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.