Member Article

Moo-ving on up: Vantage & Co make new home in Cowshed

An award-winning builder has completed a dream move into a new office it converted from an old farm building more than three years ago.

Warwickshire-based Vantage & Co – the current overall Federation of Master Builders (FMB) Master Builder of the Year – has moved into new headquarters at The Cowshed in Lapworth, the site of its first-ever commercial project.

Managing director Stephen Rankin said he always dreamed of moving into the building while the company was working on its conversion into offices.

“The Cowshed holds a very special place for all of us at Vantage & Co and we are absolutely delighted to have been able to bring the business home and make it our new headquarters.

“We worked on converting what was a very simple steel frame cowshed into offices in 2019-20 and always said we were so proud of the work that we would love to move here one day. I never imagined we would be able to do so soon.

“The steel frame ended up being about the only part of the original building which was retained and you can still see it from the inside of the building. It was the first project we entered into the FMB awards and we were thrilled to win the 2021 commercial project of the year title for the Central region.”

The company worked with Tyler Parkes architectural designs to create the modern, flexible two-storey offices, which feature an open plan layout with meeting rooms, a boardroom and rest facilities.

Construction was designed to create a modern building sympathetic to its surroundings, with timber effect cladding and open brickwork and beams adding a touch of character and authenticity.

The office move – from its former base in Henley-in-Arden – comes just months after Vantage & Co was named best builder in the UK by the FMB for its transformation of a historic Georgian villa in Birmingham.

Judges said the renovation of Old Heaton House in the Jewellery Quarter was a superb example of ‘urban renaissance in practice’ and a ‘shining beacon of what can be done to the very highest level’.’

Stephen said the national recognition was also for all the sub-contractors and craftsmen and women who had worked on Old Heaton House, with Vantage commissioned for the project by owners city-based Elevate Property Group.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Melanie Boulter .