The Digital Drive Helping a Leading Irish Construction Firm Go Further and Build Smarter
John Paul Construction is one of the biggest players in Irish construction. With more than 2,000 projects delivered over its 77-year history, the business has built a reputation for certainty of delivery and innovation. How has this massive organisation embraced digital construction principles and pushed upskilling?
Digital technology has been a great equaliser in every industry, with smaller companies deploying digital solutions being able to punch above their weight. Construction is no exception, with tools for Building Information Modelling (BIM) streamlining design and business intelligence software aiding decision making during assembly. With all the positives that adopting digital technologies can offer SMEs, larger businesses such as John Paul Construction have overseen an even more significant evolution.
Ray Blewitt, Head of Digital Construction, has spearheaded the company’s implementation of innovative digital systems in project delivery since 2021.
The process involves visualising building design models using VR and 4D sequencing, to ensure every decision is grounded in data. Models are also assessed for issues and RFIs, tracked in real time for transparency and accountability. Ground control validation direct from the 3D model files reduces rework and uncertainty. Onsite reality is captured on mobile devices, as well as with drones and 360° cameras, and synced to the 3D model. Business intelligence tools show performance metrics, while AI‑driven measurement adds predictive insight to keep projects on track.
This transformational journey began close to a decade ago, led by, as Ray describes it, ‘digitally-savvy clients with an increasing demand for certain types of trackable data’.
“This meant we had to digitally upskill key personnel. We started with the Civil Architecture Engineers, enhancing their common data environment and empowering them with visualisation tools. We also worked with private BIM consultants and kept checking in with client demands to develop a long-term training roadmap over two or so years. We also based internal upskilling on ‘training the trainer’ and canvassing skills from people across the company.”
Head of Digital Construction, John Paul Construction
This commitment to upskilling digital construction has had a tangible impact. In 2017, John Paul Construction employed just three people in a BIM function. Today, the team comprises 25 construction professionals from various backgrounds.
Prince Thomas, Project Design Coordinator, is the prime example of this embrace of working in BIM. Prince moved to Ireland in 2018, settling in Cork after a career that took him from his native India to working in Saudi Arabia.
The pull of the work-life balance available in the Irish construction sector, as well as the cultural differences compared to work in the Middle East, were an attraction for Prince:
“It seemed, from working with Irish people on projects, that the industry there was more flexible, with more coordination between clients, contractors, and consultants. Also, in the Middle East projects are more focused on onsite assembly, because they have a larger and cheaper labour force. In Ireland, there seemed to be more of an emphasis on design innovation and offsite construction to reduce time and labour costs, which appealed to me.”
Project Design Coordinator, John Paul Construction
He started as a BIM Coordinator, excelling and quickly advancing into his current role.
“I found a very good work-life balance between site visits and office work. The training I got from the team early on also really helped me to settle in.”
Project Design Coordinator, John Paul Construction
Having studied a degree in Civil Engineering in India and then completed a Master’s in Project Management, Prince continued his career development once he began working for John Paul Construction in Cork. His onboarding included training in Revit and Navisworks, as well as proprietary digital software. The John Paul Construction ‘Knowledge Bank’, where employees share their experiences and tips, also proved useful in Prince developing digital construction skills that could be applied to a range of projects deploying MMC.
“For me, the next step is attaining university certification here in BIM. I would also love to learn more about Revit software and the progression from 3D BIM modelling into using ‘4D’ for clash detection and energy modelling. Previous BIM training was purely for 3D. The world is moving very quickly, and people need to keep pace with the rate of change in digital construction technologies.”
Project Design Coordinator, John Paul Construction
Revit is an area that Ray has also focused on in the past. While working in Canada, he became an in-house expert on a range of digital construction technologies, including Revit MEP, Navisworks, and MAP CADMep+ (CADMech). After returning home to Ireland in 2019, he supplemented this technical expertise by undertaking leadership courses through the UCD Professional Academy, a key factor in stepping into his current role. It’s part of his attitude focused on professional development and self-betterment.
“I’m always looking at the next place I can go. AI is a knowledge area I think will become increasingly important in all construction industry roles. There are a lot of common threads but also a lot of differing voices on how to best use it.”
Project Design Coordinator, John Paul Construction
At a broader level, the approach to Learning & Development at John Paul Construction is rooted in the belief that continuous growth is essential to sustaining excellence. Jemma Carty, Senior Talent & Development Business Partner at John Paul Construction, expanded on this point:
“We take a strategic view of capability building – identifying the skills our people need today, anticipating those they’ll need tomorrow, and aligning learning initiatives with the company’s long‑term goals. By combining structured development pathways with the deep expertise that already exists across our teams, we ensure that learning is practical, relevant, and directly connected to project delivery. Our role is to empower our people to thrive in a rapidly evolving industry, and to ensure the organisation is always ready for what comes next.”
Senior Talent & Development Business Partner, John Paul Construction
Ray elaborated further, discussing the strategic changes made to the upskilling process at John Paul Construction to give the knowledge shared a great chance of sticking:
“We used to train en masse with standardised upskilling around core skills. But we then worked out training is best if people can use what they learn immediately. It's inefficient to train people for something that isn't a strategic need in their day to day. So, every two weeks we induct new people into the high-level, strategic view of the digital construction software used. Then, once people are assigned to their project sites, they are trained onsite in what is used there.”
Head of Digital Construction, John Paul Construction
Ray added that John Paul Construction also identified that the best way to upskill staff was when they are assigned to new projects, when more amenable to taking on new information. He also emphasised the company is open to staff pursuing their own upskilling in relevant areas that can assist with using innovative digital systems on construction projects.
Even as one of Ireland's largest construction companies, John Paul Construction has proven its flexibility with the continued optimisation of digital technologies – and the operational training to match.
