AY-PE, an AV, digital software and multimedia design studio for museums, heritage sites and attractions, has announced that it has been chosen by Rangers F.C. in Glasgow, Scotland, to work on the Rangers Football Club Museum. This builds on the firm’s strong track record in digital media design for sports heritage, demonstrated by previous projects for the World Rugby Museum Twickenham and the Silverstone Interactive Museum.
This new project will celebrate the story of one of the world’s most well-known football clubs, which has fans around the globe. It will explore the club’s journey over the past 150 years, from its modest beginnings in 1872 to the Club’s position today as the most successful football club in the world.
This announcement comes ahead of a huge fixture for the club as the Rangers men’s team prepares to play Frankfurt in the UEFA Europa League Final on 18 May in Seville.
New Edmiston House
The museum will be based in New Edmiston House, a purpose-built venue next to the Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow. The facility will be home to a range of attractions for visitors including a concert venue and Fan Zone as well as the museum.
AY-PE will be responsible for developing the digital concepts and delivering a wide range of media across a number of galleries, working with the project’s principal exhibition designers, Studioarc Design Consultants. The AV software being developed by AY-PE includes:
- Five unique large-scale, multi-screen, projector and panoramic films
- A range of highly varied and engaging digital interactive experiences, explorers, games and quizzes
- Numerous sound designs from SFX to bespoke compositions
- Accessible AV design with BSL and subtitling
- Collaborative work with Rangers in-house media team on many more AVs
The goal of this project is to preserve, catalogue and enrich the proud history of Rangers Football Club, building on work that has already been underway for several years. It will be a state of the art addition for the club and for the city as a whole, putting the football club in context within Govan, the wider city, Scotland and the world. It will show how the growth of the club has gone hand in hand with the growth of the city.
The Rangers F.C. Museum will cater to a wide audience. As well as core fans and supporters, it will also be designed to appeal to local people and schools, families with children, and tourists from within the UK and abroad, as well as the Glasgow conference market and schools. In addition, it will play a role in new players’ inductions to the club and will also host visiting clubs and dignitaries.
Celebrating a rich heritage
As well as the upcoming UEFA Europe League Final, there is another milestone this year that coincides with this announcement: March 2022 was the 150th anniversary of four young locals, Moses McNeil, Peter McNeil, William McBeath and Peter Campbell, deciding to follow their dream and start a football team.
Rangers F.C. has weathered plenty of highs and lows over the last century and a half. The club is the most successful team in the world for domestic league championship wins, just this month Rangers’ women’s team won the Scottish Women’s Premier League 1. The Club has also suffered devastating tragedies at the stadium too.
New Edmiston House and the new museum have been supported by a group of “Founding Fathers”, alongside thousands of the club’s supporters who have enrolled in a scheme to help fund the project, support the Club’s continued growth and who will be a part of the action when it all opens.
An iconic project
“Telling the stories of Rangers Football Club is at the heart of the new Museum, not only through the Club’s outstanding collection but also through an exciting range of digital media,” says Lyndsey Bowditch, director, Studioarc.
“From immersive installations to animation, digital games and opportunities for visitors to create their own content, the digital strategy for the Museum provides lots of exciting ways for visitors to explore the history and heritage of the Club. We are delighted to have AY-PE on board to develop engaging digital content which will add depth, meaning and fun to the visitor experience.”
Simon Ackerley, AY-PE’s managing director says: “We’re thrilled to be working with the Rangers FC Museum team on this iconic project. Rangers are phenomenally successful with an incredible history surrounding the club, its fans and the growth of Glasgow city itself.
“The quality and diversity of archive footage, imagery and content is outstanding in sports heritage. This combined with the museum team’s drive to create a dynamic, modern visitor experience, means we are in an amazing position to deliver a suite of stunning and inspirational digital media.”
Richard Playford, AY-PE’s creative director adds: “There are so many draws to this project, but one of the greatest synergies is knowing that for a high proportion of the visitors, this museum is about them – it’s about their community, their highs and lows, their conversations and their passions.
“AY-PE focuses on and excels at designing films, sounds, interactives and AV which connect visitors’ thoughts, memories and emotions to a message or story. It is a huge opportunity and privilege to be able to connect the enormity of the Rangers’ heritage back to the millions of fans of the Club, and hopefully, the media will help the museum develop many more Rangers supporters, partners and advocates in the future.”
AY-PE delivers AV that enhances iconic venues, such as Canterbury Cathedral and Edinburgh Castle and helps to tell some of the world’s most important stories. This can be seen in its work on the new Second World War Galleries at Imperial War Museum London, which was recently honoured at the Museums + Heritage Awards.
