Introduction
Our History
Our Services overview
-Historic Buildings
-Residential
-Commercial
-Light Industrial
-Barn Conversion
Awards
Contact us

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Introduction

Founded in 1974, and based in Llandrindod Wells and Knighton, we are a small award-winning practice offering a broad range of Architectural and Surveying services. Garner Southall Partnership has worked for a variety of clients in the historic buildings, housing, retail and commercial fields together with many individual private commissions.

Over the years the practice has developed particular lines of expertise through on-going involvement in certain specialised types of work and these include restoration and refurbishment of historic buildings, residential development and commercial light industrial buildings.

Regardless of size, each project is given the same meticulous attention to achieve the highest standards of design quality and technical performance, working very closely with our clients and providing a professional service at all stages from concept design through construction details to completion.
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Our history

As 1974 dawned with fuel shortages and the country working only a three day week it was hardly a propitious time to start a new business.

Surveyor Terry Southall had bought out the Llandrindod office of a Hereford firm of architects and asked Mike Garner, then working for Herefordshire County Council to join him in Partnership.The main workload of the practice was house alterations and one off houses.

The Partnership worked from offices in Alpine House, Temple Street, Llandrindod Wells and Broad Street Presteigne, from where we also, unusually for architects, operated a building society agency. This tradition has continued with various Building Societies over the years and we currently act for the Dudley Building Society at our office in 3 Broad Street, Knighton.

In 1975 a long association with the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society began, which resulted in us designing 15 of the permanent buildings on the Showground including the Society’s offices, Presidents Pavilion, Grandstand and most recently the new Entrance A opened by Her Majesty the Queen this year.

In 1979 the Partnership were joined by Gareth Price from Rhayader, and he became the surveying partner in 2003 when
Terry Southall became a Consultant. The scope of our designs expanded to include industrial and agricultural buildings, public buildings, offices, hotels and housing developments for local building contractors and developers.

Also in 1979 the Partnership’s long relationship with the Development Board for Rural Wales (subsequently Welsh Development Agency) commenced resulting in about 30 industrial units including the Labtech Building in Presteigne, the renovation and conversion of the Automobile Palace, Llandrindod Wells and most recently advanced factories in Llanidloes, Welshpool and Brecon.

It was inevitable that dealing with alterations to existing buildings we would deal with the particular problems that affect buildings of historical interest, of which there are numerous examples in the locality. Over the years expertise has been gained in work with historic buildings. In spite of this particular expertise our workload remains  broad and still includes the house alterations and one off houses on which it was originally based. We continue to have excellent and often long term relationships with our clients, to whom we extend heartfelt thanks for their patronage and with the building contractors and consultants with whom we work.
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Our Services

The principal services that we offer include:
Historic Buildings Conservation
Residential- New build and refurbishment
Commercial
Light industrial
Barn conversions

Other services that we can offer include:
Valuation surveys
Condition surveys
Quinquennial inspections and reports
Planning supervisor duties (under CDM Regulations)
SAP rating calculations
Dudley Building Society (Agency in Knighton)
Photocopying
 

Awards

Our work has gained recognition in a number of ways:

RICS Building of the Year 2000/Civic Trust Award 2001

The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Building of the year 2000, and the Civic Trust Award 2001 was awarded for the restoration of Ty Mawr for CADW (Welsh Historic Monuments) and Powis Castle Estate.
The restoration was of this rare medieval aisled hall house. Discovered some 25 years previously the building, which was built in 1460 as the home of a wealthy medieval household, was being used as a cowshed
To carry out the works, the remains of the timber framed structure were supported by a maze of scaffolding and protected by constructing a corrugated roof over the top.
The building was reconstructed to what it might have been in 1635, keeping the remains of the original timber frame intact.
This extraordinary house is now lived in by tenants, but is regularly open to the public

Civic Trust Commendations

Repairs to Old Burfa Farmhouse, Evenjobb, Powys. Built 1484. Restored 1972-82
A complete oak framed medieval cruck house with a rare close studded wing which had completely collapsed

Repairs to Wegnall Farmhouse, Presteigne, Powys. Built 1601. Restored 1988-89.
This complete oak framed close studded house was repaired and the porch, which was missing, was recreated from a 19c photograph.

Repairs to Automobile Palace, Llandrindod Wells, Powys. Built 1906. Faience clad Art Deco Garage
Repaired and converted to shops for the WDA.The early reinforced concrete and stell structure had major problems of rusting in reinforcement of the steel causing failure of much of the faience, The structural frame was repaired and new nand made faience fixed to the facades which were restored to their original layout. The open space internally was divided in to letting units and a cycle museum.
 

Montgomery Design Award
Awarded for 1000sq m of light industrial factory. Unit 8, Parc Hafren, Lanidloes, Powys. Built for the WDA in 1999, this factory was constructed as a speculative unit on a small industrial park.
 

CPRW Rural Conservation Award
Awarded for repairs to Llanderch Y Cawr, Elan Valley Rhayader, Powys. Built 15c. Repaired 1999
A derelict medieval Welsh long house, Llanerch Y Cawr was sensitively repaired and reconstructed for holiday use.
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