Larsen Limited
Larsen Limited is an award-winning construction company successfully delivering contracts to a high specification over the last 14 years on the island of Jersey. They are dedicated to enhancing the island’s landscape, renovating, refurbishing, or constructing from new, bespoke homes of distinction, undertaking works to commercial buildings across the island, as well as small works contracts for both the private and public sectors.
Premier Construction Channel Islands Magazine spoke to Matt Price of Larsen Limited, about the company.
What do you specialise in?
“I would describe Larsen as being primarily involved in construction of one-off residential and commercial building projects. We enjoy the whole process of taking a set of plans and bringing them to life, in conjunction with the Architects, clients and sub-contractors. What sets us apart as a company is that we enjoy doing more challenging, and sometimes more difficult, projects; we don’t shy away from tough propositions. We employ a lot of our own staff in the key areas to ensure we carry out that work and to provide the best service to clients.
“We employ a large team (and see it as a team!) of site managers, carpenters, builders, decorators, ground workers, and external landscapers. We’ve also recently started up a swimming pool company, initially for our own contracts but also to extend for other clients who may wish to accommodate a pool within their external landscape plans. We enjoy expanding our range of specialist services to maintain our niche in the local construction industry. We try to deal with complications before they become problems and work with clients and with the architects, surveyors and everyone else involved to try and find solutions – as we said, we view the process as a team effort.”
Can you give us an example of a project you’ve worked on previously and what were the challenges?
“A recent project we worked on was at a family home in St Brelade, which was taken from being a standard brick built compact house to a multi-faceted ultra-modern home, on 3 levels, finished to an exceptionally high standard. Located in a prestigious area of the island overlooking St. Brelades Bay, it was particularly challenging to achieve a high specification finish in an elevated position in the bay and to undertake work in such a quiet part of the island and in relatively close proximity to neighbouring properties. The external elements of the property also proved challenging, with a new swimming pool and associated buildings incorporated on site.”
What are you working on currently?
“Currently we’re working on a number of interesting projects. We have recently started work on a contemporary one-off residential home based in St Ouen. We are also undertaking refurbishment works to a local hotel, working around visitors, to ensure a smooth and speedy completion, not to mention quiet!
We’re also managing another project at the old St Martins Primary School, which is being undertaken on behalf of the Parish of St Martin. The school building, which dates back to the 1800’s, has lain empty for the last few years, but is now being given a new lease of life, with the Parish of St Martin creating a new central hub for the community. The shell of the old school, which is listed, is being renovated and brought back to its former glory, and the internal areas will house a Marks and Spencer’s store, a vets, pharmacy and a doctors surgery. It’s really something we’re excited about, as it involves bringing the parish and the community together.
“We’re also doing a smaller project at La Hougue Bie, part of Jersey Heritage, which is one of the 10 oldest buildings in the world! We’re currently working on an extension and renovation project at one of the Grade 1 listed buildings on site, creating a new tearooms to sit alongside the existing museum.”
What do you pride yourselves on as a company?
“Our approach and our quality. Our approach is to get involved with the clients and the architects, to ensure the best possible build, we pride ourselves on the quality we can provide and that comes from within. The Larsen company ethos is shared by all our directly employed staff and this is then carried through with our partners, sub-contractors and companies. We set the standards and make sure that those standards are maintained and achieved right throughout the build. We’re an approachable company, we’re problem solvers, and our aim is to make the whole experience enjoyable for the clients and the rest of the team.”
