Vantage Builders is looking forward to helping our clients – new and existing – build business success in 2018, continuing a course that we set during a very exciting and active 2017. We enjoyed one of our busiest years in 2017, with a new office, strong additions to our team, interesting client projects and inroads into new, high-growth markets. 

One of the year’s most exciting developments for Vantage Builders was our corporate headquarters move, necessitated by the firm’s growth over the past few years. The move provided us the ideal opportunity to design an office that would reflect, support and build our company culture, improve efficiency and better serve our clients. 

Fortunately, we leased space on the second floor of our current building (204 Second Ave. in Waltham), avoiding a more significant move and making the process much easier. At 6,500 s/f, the new space is 50% larger than our third-floor location, enabling us to support future increases in staff. 

Designed by Fusion Design, the flexible layout focuses on promoting greater interaction, communication and relationship-building among the team. Although there are a few private offices, the emphasis is on collaboration, with numerous huddle rooms, breakout areas and an open floorplan. We utilized technology throughout the environment to support employee and client interactions. Powered, height-adjustable work surfaces allow employees to alternate between sitting and standing to find the position that is ideal for their bodies, which increases productivity and promotes a healthier environment. A real highlight is the café and lounge area, for both employees and hosting events. 

During 2017, we brought on several new team members, making it one of our highest growth years ever. We expanded our project management, estimating, accounting and supervisor teams. 

While the backbone of our firm is our people, we also took strides in our use of technology to help support client projects. We upgraded our project management software platform by implementing Procore. The software streamlines communications among the project team – supervisors, architects, engineers, client, project managers – to ensure jobs run efficiently, safely, on-budget and on-schedule. We added Building Information Modeling capabilities to more effectively design, plan and construct projects. 

Of course, all the new improvements – our new, more efficient office, stronger team and better technology – was done for one purpose: to better support our clients. From a project perspective, 2017 was one of our most varied years. We worked on projects of all sizes, from renovations to ground-up construction, for clients in a wide variety of industries. We had one of our strongest years ever in the retail market and continued to expand our presence in the fast-growing marijuana cultivation industry. We can’t detail all our projects but some notable ones stand out. 

We recently completed work on a new medical marijuana cultivation facility for Sanctuary Medicinals in Littleton, Mass. The patient-focused company is already established in New Hampshire and expanded into Massachusetts. Cultivating medical marijuana is a very complicated, precise process and it begins with the facility, from architecture and design to engineering and construction. The project included internal construction and significant building systems work on electrical, lighting, irrigation, plumbing and HVAC. 

We worked on many retail projects. We helped Red Dog bring its luxurious, total pet care to the dogs and cats to the North Shore. We did a complete build-out and renovation of their 15,000 s/f building on Walnut St. in Saugus. We got CYCL3 moving, with a buildout of their first location at 112 Mall Rd. in Burlington. Using very cool, high-end custom bikes, CYCL3 offers low impact, high intensity interval training. The 3,200 s/f project included the fitness studio, reception area and shower/changing facilities.

One of the most rewarding projects we worked on was helping The Learning Experience expand in New England, with its first location in Rhode Island. Vantage transformed what had been a drab building into a vibrant, bright, welcoming location that will attract children and their parents. We built eight separate classrooms for children of different ages, a staffroom and lounge for caregivers, two playgrounds and a soccer field with artificial field turf. We completed five branch renovations for Middlesex Savings Bank, in Ashland, Bellingham, Concord, Hopkinton and Walpole. Each branch features an open atmosphere that supports the bank’s philosophy that banking is built on relationships.

We renovated a new corporate headquarters for Locus Robotics, a manufacturer of autonomous e-commerce fulfillment robotics products, at 301 Ballardvale St. in Wilmington. The location features a dynamic and fully operational robotics demonstration area. In New Hampshire, we built out Vapotherm’s new 41,000 s/f manufacturing facility at 100 Domain Dr. in Exeter. The new state-of-the-art facility enables more efficient product manufacturing, development and testing and will streamline production, shipping and storage. 

Strategic Spaces and Reward Gateway each moved into new offices in Boston. Strategic Spaces, a commercial furniture and custom prefab solution provider, relocated to the Seaport District, almost doubling its office size to approximately 7,000 s/f. The new location houses the firm’s 24 employees as well as its client experience center. Meanwhile Reward Gateway, a UK-based employee engagement technology company, opened its U.S. headquarters at 141 Tremont St., overlooking the Boston Common. 

We completed a ground-up construction project for KORSCH America, a manufacturer of tablet compression equipment for the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, vitamin, chemical, and technical industries. The new 5,000 s/f facility expansion, adjacent to KORSCH’s North American headquarters in South Easton, will be used for new machine inventory, an equipment rebuild area, and expanded test laboratories. 

More information on these projects, and many others, can be found in the projects section of our website: www.vb-inc.com. 

The Vantage Builders team wishes you a prosperous and fulfilling 2018! 

Established in 2000, the firm services a wide range of industries, including office, retail, life sciences, education, restaurant, marijuana growth, and medical markets. For more information, please visit www.vb-inc.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter (@VantageBldrs) or Instagram (@vantagebuilders).

Ryan LaVangie is the senior vice president of sales & marketing for Vantage Builders, Waltham, Mass.