BUILD Archtecture Awards 2025 Mechanical and Electrical Engineering is an integral sector that plays an instrumental role in shaping modern infrastructure and the built environment. These systems are essential for many sectors and serve as the heartbeat of countless architectural projects – not only ensuring the functionality but also the longevity of the buildings around us. Maintaining these systems is a crucial role in our society, one that Oatway Design handles masterfully. We spoke to Stephan Oatway below, Managing Director at Oatway Design, as the company is named in the Architecture Awards 2025. Sustainable M&E Design Consultancy of the Year 2025 – South West England & BUILD Excellence Award in Heritage & Conservation Engineering 2025 – South West England Contact: Stephan Oatway Company: Oatway Design Web Address: www.oatwaydesign.co.uk Based in Plymouth, Devon, Oatway Design is a company driven by a genuine love for engineering and a passion for integrating emerging technologies into the fabric of a building. Specialising in Building Services, Oatway Design provides practical, sustainable, and innovative solutions for buildings of all types. The company serves a wide array of sectors, including education, healthcare, residential, leisure, and commercial projects. As a result, Oatway Design caters to a diverse clientele, all connected through their appreciation of quality, collaboration, and long-term thinking in their investments. From private high-net-worth individuals to global property developers to school boards, every client receives scrupulous attention from Oatway Design as it works across the entire lifecycle of each building it serves. “We believe that building services are the heart of any building – bringing life, resilience, and soul to every project we touch.” Oatway Design is a family-run business that prioritises quality and client satisfaction in everything it does. Established in 1992 by David Oatway, the company has recently celebrated the ten-year anniversary of his son, Stephan, taking the reigns as Director. In the years since the company’s establishment, the Oatway family have successfully cultivated a proactive, solution-focused team striving to not only deliver standard solutions, but to tailor practical, innovative answers to realworld problems. “Being a family business is an important differentiator – we ensure every design that leaves lives up to our family name,” Stephan told us. “Our name is on every piece of work that leaves our office. This personal connection drives us to maintain high standards and produce designs that will stand the test of time – often for decades.” Each project undertaken at Oatway Design is entirely bespoke; all initiated with a blank page and the recognition that each building, client, budget, and community of users bring their own unique needs. Oatway Design ensures that the team remains focused and on track throughout the process by leveraging strong project management and coordination abilities as well as unparalleled client liaison. Alongside this, and perhaps most importantly, the team work to understand what success looks like for each individual client before embedding themselves as part of the design team. “Our vision is simple: to create buildings that don’t just function – they elevate, enhance, and sustain the spaces people live, learn, and work in. This diversity keeps us learning and evolving, and we bring those insights back into our daily work.” One such example is Oatway Design’s completed work at Kilve Court, a much-loved Grade II listed heritage building. The key challenge was integrating modern, sustainable technologies within a sensitive, historic environment. The team relocated the internal oil-fired boiler system into a purpose-built external plant room and repurposed redundant space to install an ASHP and LPG boiler, creating a hybrid system that carefully accommodated the building’s original radiators, fixtures, and fittings. Oatway Design reduced energy consumption whilst providing a 21stcentury upgrade – all without compromising the building’s character. This project is the perfect example of how building services serve as the heartbeat of a project, supporting functionality and longevity whilst respecting unique history. This project was awarded the BUILD Excellence Award in Heritage and Conservation Engineering 2025 – South West England – revitalising a beautiful heritage building once-neglected due to outdated systems. For over three decades, Oatway Design has consistently delivered unparalleled building services rooted in sustainability and conservation. Named South West England’s Sustainable M&E Consultancy of the Year 2025, we asked Stephan what’s in-store for Oatway Design as it continues its upward trajectory of success. “ 2025 is already shaping up to be a busy and exciting year,” he shared. “We’re working closely on several sensitive projects and completing our sixth care home refurbishment for a long-standing client. For the first time in our history, we’ve also become personal sponsors of a promising young motorsport rider who competed in a televised national race series. It’s a local family supporting another local family, and a wonderful way for us to showcase the depth of talent from the South West.” Oatway Design
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