Construction Business Review

Westhead Associates
The Custom Wall System Experts

Pete Westhead, President, Westhead AssociatesPete Westhead, President
Westhead Associates is a design-build company specializing in insulated metal panel wall systems and custom steel fabricated platform system design and construction. Instead of assembling prefabricated products, it offers tailored platform designs from rooftop to the floor, providing turnkey installations for various applications across industries.

Operating in New Jersey while serving customers nationwide, Westhead Associates’ vast experience in mezzanine/ platform systems allows it to design and rapidly deploy customized configurations of standardized components to serve a wide range of industrial applications. In contrast to traditional builders, the company incorporates steel fabrications into its wall packages, creating a reinforced and adaptable structure with features like safe, walkable ceilings that are taller and require fewer columns to support them. Building on these capabilities, it also delivers custom equipment platforms, walkways, and structures to support wall systems.

Expertise in modular building construction and custom steel fabrications enables it to efficiently set up facilities, reducing the usual construction time and lowering overall costs. This ensures businesses can start operations quicker without compromising on quality. Catering to a range of customers like food and beverage firms, pharmaceutical companies, and medical marijuana grow facilities, Westhead Associates’ approach is rooted in customization.

“Unlike general contractors that send drawings and bid on projects, we work closely with end users to design and build custom systems,” says Pete Westhead, president of Westhead Associates. “We collaborate with OEM and incorporate their equipment in our structures, making us a turnkey design-build contractor rather than just a wall supplier.”

Westhead Associates’ wall systems are designed with adaptability in mind and can be effortlessly modified, repositioned, or even disassembled and re-erected as required. This reusability factor offers both cost savings and adaptability, catering to the dynamic needs of today’s commercial rental spaces.

Through its distinct approach, Westhead Associates champions a design-build approach in construction. This involves an in-depth engagement with customers right from the outset. The company meticulously assesses the customers’ existing facilities as well as the equipment that will be utilized within those spaces.

Its comprehensive involvement doesn’t stop at designing. The company sees a project through from site survey to installation, managing every intricate detail in between. Unlike many contemporaries who largely collaborate with general contractors, its primary interactions are directly with end users.

“Beyond designing and building, we handle fabrication and even take on the responsibility of providing all the necessary engineered seal drawings for projects,” says Paul Sorgi, vice president of sales at Westhead Associates.

Aiming to deliver services in newer markets, Westhead Associates has observed a rising demand from big box structures or large vacant buildings that owners aim to lease. The current market is increasingly inclined towards creating flex spaces, a concept that involves partitioning a single expansive building to accommodate multiple tenants. With an emphasis on customizable and modular solutions, the company has been able to take advantage of this growing market segment in unique ways.

We collaborate with OEM and incorporate their equipment in our structures, making us a turnkey design-build contractor rather than just a wall supplier

One such instance where its services fulfilled an emerging requirement was during the height of the pandemic when vaccine storage presented significant challenges. Meeting the pressing need for specialized cold storage solutions, a major vaccine manufacturer under the Operation Warp Speed initiative chose Westhead Associates for its reputation as a fast, reliable, and adaptable builder that could guide them through every step of this mission-critical job.

Unlike traditional constructors, Westhead Associates combined advanced steel fabrication with modular techniques to design expansive, temperature-controlled spaces quickly and efficiently. Its approach accelerated project completion and optimized costs, avoiding typical construction pitfalls. Its flexible designs offered scalable solutions for future storage needs.

With a dynamic service ethos and top-tier steel solutions, Westhead Associates has positioned itself as a market leader. Driving adaptability across operations, it goes beyond traditional designing and building services, driving results for clients.