Purcell to design Wrexham football museum

The local council has tasked the architect with drawing up plans for the Regent Street project and construction is due to commence in 2022. 

Purcell will be joined on the project team by Haley Sharp Design, a specialist in museum design, and quantity surveyors MDA Consulting. HSD and MDA both worked on the Stonehenge Visitor Centre project in Wiltshire. 

The Wrexham team was procured through a tender process launched last year. 

The football museum is to be based within the Wrexham Museum building on Regent Street in the town centre. The building is to be refurbished and work will be carried out so that both the football museum and existing collections will be accommodated.

The Wrexham Museum displays are to be refreshed and enlarged as part of the project. 

Wrexham Council’s chief executive Ian Bancroft said: “The appointment of such a strong design team reflects the commitment both of the council and the Welsh Government to create a museum that will recognise the importance of football in Wales and secure Wrexham’s place as the spiritual home of football in Wales.” 

The design team will engage with the public and museum stakeholders to work up proposals for the project over the next few months. 

“The new football museum will be a major new attraction for Wrexham town centre, drawing visitors from all over the country and beyond,” addedCllr Hugh Jones, Wrexham Council’s cabinet member for communities. 

“It will tell the story of football in Wales in all its diversity, from the clubs and supporters across the country, all the way up to the national teams and their historic achievements.” 

The project comes on the back of the completion of the £5m National Football Development Centre in the area in autumn 2019. Last year, local Assembly Member Lesley Griffiths, a long-term supporter of the project, called Wrexham “the rightful home of Welsh football”.