Straid Contracts Ltd is a leading construction sub-contractor specialising in fitout, structural frame solutions (SFS) and now light gauge steel frame solutions. The company was founded by a group of construction professionals with over 50 years’ experience in the industry, who combined their skills and expertise to create a one-stop shop for internal fitout and structural framing solutions.
Based in Ballycastle, Co. Antrim, the company carries out a range of specialist services, including internal fitout and dry lining, stud walls, suspended ceilings, infill SFS with external finishes and light gauge structural steel solutions. It has completed a wide range of projects across the UK and Ireland for clients such as McLaughlin & Harvey, Farrans Construction, AES Marconi, Woodvale Construction, Barrett Contracts, DPC Contracts and many others. These projects have encompassed the retail, healthcare, leisure and public works sectors.
Established in 2014 by Martin and Natasha McAteer, Straid Contracts Ltd has grown to employ a team of 10, which includes quantity surveyors, construction managers and site supervisors. The company prides itself on its people, the quality of its work and its ability to complete projects on time and within budget. Straid Contracts’ ‘hands on’ approach ensures that each project, regardless of size, benefits from its high level of quality and control. The company also works closely with its clients to ensure its works integrate seamlessly with all other surrounding packages. This results in an easier, quicker path to completion for clients, which ultimately leads to a higher quality and lower cost project.
In 2017, Straid Contracts identified a new method of building which was not widely used in the UK and Irish markets – Structural SFS. This is where the entire structure of a building is made from steel profiles, normally less than 4mm thick. Unlike the traditional approach where the skeletal structure of the building is designed to take most of the loads, Structural SFS spreads the loads throughout most of the internal and external walls. This approach spreads the load through the whole building, thus reducing point loads and enabling the use of light gauge steel instead of traditional heavy steel sections.
The benefits of this system are huge and they are tailored to meet the increasingly stringent demands of today’s contracts. The benefits include: reduced overall weight of the building structure; fast-track site installation programme; reduced carbon footprint and use of aggregates; sustainable steel construction; exceptionally tight fabrication and installation tolerances.With this build system, the components of the building structure (walls, floors, roof) are assembled off-site in factory conditions, delivered to site in panels and then bolted into place in a pre-defined order. Straid Contracts has invested heavily in R&D for this build system and provides a one-stop shop for the design, manufacture, supply and installation of the SFS Offsite building system.
“Everyone wants things done quickly nowadays and the SFS Offsite building system speeds up the whole process. We have a proven track record of completing works ahead of programme without compromising on quality,” Straid Contracts senior quantity surveyor Aidan McErlain says.
“We get a lot of repeat business and are always attracting new clients. Despite the uncertainly surrounding Brexit, we have plenty of work ahead us. All in all, the company is going from strength to strength.”
Past projects carried out by Straid Contracts include works at Jet Centre, Coleraine for AES Marconi, internal partitions, suspended and feature ceilings at Fetlor YC for McLaughlin & Harvey, SFS, internal partitions and ceilings at Queen’s Hall, Dunoon for McLaughlin & Harvey, internal partitions and ceilings at Woking Fire Station and two multi-storey office blocks at Weybridge for McLaughlin & Harvey, Torrance Park Golf Club for McLaughlin & Harvey, Woking Shopping Centre for McLaughlin & Harvey, Pineham Barnes School for Farrans Construction, Crescent Church, Belfast for AES Marconi, various Moviehouse Cinemas for AES Marconi, specialist acoustic walls and ceilings at Q Radio for AES Marconi, internal fitout at SOS Building, Belfast for AES Marconi and Stothers M&E Offices for Stothers Ltd.
“We’ve just finished the ceilings of a specialist cinema arena for AES Marconi at the Moviehouse Cinema in City Side, Belfast, while we’re currently in the final stages of fitting out two office blocks for McLaughlin & Harvey in Harlow Science Park, London. Upcoming projects include a number of SFS offsite projects, including a high end bespoke residence in SFS Structural offsite System. Business is flying,” Aidan concludes.
Straid Contracts Ltd
Unit 7,
Causeway Enterprise Agency,
61 Leyland Road,
Ballycastle,
Co. Antrim BT54 6EZ
Telephone: +44 28 207 65484
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.straidcontractrs.com
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, December 2019/January 2020, Vol 5 No 11
