Case Study: Arup achieves faster design coordination and carbon reporting with Trimble Tekla and Trimble Connect

Tekla’s parametric design and coordination keeps London King’s Cross project moving

Arup, the global engineering firm behind the King’s Cross R8 mixed-use development in London, faced a complex challenge: the project sat beside sensitive historic rail tunnels and required repeated rail-operator approvals before work could proceed. To keep the schedule moving, Arup used Trimble’s Tekla-Grasshopper Live Link and Tekla Structures, along with Trimble Connect, to support parametric design, BIM coordination, and collaboration.

Trimble helped Arup automate model updates, speed up approval drawings, calculate structural loads and embodied carbon, and coordinate teams in a shared 3D environment. The result was faster response to design changes, reduced concrete in the foundations, improved carbon reporting, and smoother cross-team coordination, with King’s Cross R8 later winning Best Commercial Project in the Tekla BIM Awards 2022 in the UK and globally.

Arup

Gordon Clannachan

Senior Structural Engineer and Project Lead