Winchester: 21st McCarthy & Stone project for structural engineering team

The team at Romsey-based consulting civil and structural engineering company WFBA has been awarded its 21^st project for the UK’s leading retirement housebuilder McCarthy & Stone.

The new build property in Winchester is to be designed by Inspire Design, one of the three framework architects appointed by the developer to design buildings that will be both functional and attractive at the acquired location. 

The first McCarthy & Stone project involving the engineering team was Wickham, Hampshire in 2014. Nick Groves, director at WFBA, said that the diverse designs by the architects  to meet site constraints ensure that the qualified team assigned to McCarthy & Stone projects never have to assess the same design twice, albeit there is a well considered layout strategy as part of the brand.

“The various sites across the south and south west of England are all multi-million pound new-build projects that we are involved with from the initial concept design and planning stages through to delivery on site. Our experience with McCarthy & Stone and other national developers enables us to provide engineering solutions to enhance the success of the group and the wider design team,” said Nick Groves. “We are pleased to play a significant role in successful project delivery for the retirement housebuilder.”

WFBA has increased its professional team from 18 to 26 over the past 12 months to expand its services to architects, developers and planning authorities across the UK. The scale of projects can vary from a £15,000 private home extension to a £35 million commercial development. Over 20 hotels for the Travelodge chain have also received the input from WFBA. One of the more unusual projects within the leisure industry was the latest roller coaster rides at Paultons Family Theme Park.

Demand for the WFBA team’s services has also increased over the past 12 months seeing turnover grow from £900,000 to £1.35m.