Gillard Associates Architecture and Design

27/04/2026

PP granted for the resi conversion of a well known local garage, next to our former office.

17/02/2026

What has a lovely parish church deep in the Vale of Glamorgan in common with a Chinese restaurant in Cardiff?

I’ve been working on the quinquennial inspection of St Canna’s Church, Llangan, and saw something in the official listing. The exterior masonry is described as “vertical crazy paving.” I took a closer look.

It isn’t “crazy paving”. It’s polygonal stone masonry. Albeit much smaller in scale, it was inspired by the cyclopean walling classical
Greece, a rich hunting ground for source material in the days of 'the grand tour'. This is difficult, slow and expensive to build, and rather rare. Why would anyone choose this for a small rural church in a quiet village?

There is one other building in Glamorgan with the same distinctive polygonal walling: the one that now houses 'Summer Palace', the Chinese on High Street, Llandaff. That building is attributed to John Prichard's office, run by the Victorian Architect responsible for the restoration of Llandaff Cathedral and many churches across the diocese.

Prichard was born in Llangan. St Canna’s was almost certainly his childhood church — very likely the place where he was baptised. When the church was rebuilt in the mid‑19th century, he was the Diocesan Architect, working locally and deeply invested in the area.

So the unusual masonry suddenly makes sense. It was a gesture of significance — a way of giving his home parish something crafted, distinctive and rooted in the Victorian love of antiquity.

Putting all this together, we can now say with real confidence that John Prichard was almost certainly the architect of the rebuilding of St Canna’s, something that hitherto, was not known. And that the remarkable polygonal stonework is part of that personal story.

A lovely reminder that buildings sometimes carry the emotional fingerprints of the people who shaped them.

23/12/2025

BOTCHED RETROFITS
It was depressing to hear the BBC report this morning about botched retrofits under the ECO4 scheme. TrustMark registration only applies when work is grant‑funded — but what about the huge number of people who don’t qualify for grants?
We have the oldest housing stock in Europe. In Wales, up to 20% of homes are pre‑1919 and desperately inefficient. These buildings need upgrading, but too many owners end up hiring tradespeople who don’t understand traditional construction, or designers who specify modern materials that can do real harm. I’ve met builders proudly applying 3:1 cement render to Victorian terraces, unaware of the long‑term damage they’re creating.
We’re storing up massive problems for the future. If everything else in the built environment is regulated, why can anyone pick up a trowel and work on a historic house, or draw up plans without any specialist knowledge? It’s time we had proper qualifications and regulation for those working on our most precious buildings — before well‑meaning mistakes become irreversible.

08/12/2025

Cornish Heritage
Working with the Friends at Come-to-Good, a C17th Grade 1 Quaker meeting house in need of some minor interventions to improve the experience of worship. The building is a fascinating example of true vernacular building, perfectly crafted with local materials assembled in a way which is perfectly suited to its purpose, ie to provide a sense of timelessness and peace for worship, a quality increasingly hard to find. An absolute joy to be involved, especially as I have a link back to my student days, when I helped the architect David Butler survey some of the meeting houses in Cumbria for his magnum opus "The Quaker Meeting Houses of Britain: An Account of the Some 1,300 Meeting Houses and 900 Burial Grounds in England, Wales and Scotland, from the Start of the Movement in 1652 to the Present Time". More on this wonderful building to follow.

20/11/2025

Sussex Heritage
Really enjoyed surveying and researching this intriguing C17th cottage in Sussex. Layer upon layer of construction development starting with the original timber frame, the addition of fashionable brick dressing in the Georgian era. The story of woodland timber and the introduction of machine sawn deal from the Baltic at the dawn of the industrial revolution. Links back to a location still Saxon and the place where Alfred left for his doomed battle with the conqueror. Talk about rabbit holes...and its still not finished.

11/11/2025

Vernacular v Polite
Listening today to SPAB lecture on differences between vernacular and 'polite' architectures. For me, real architecture isn't about style or fashion, it's what is right, for climate, place, local resources, and tradition. Contrast the Liberty style in the previous post with the trulli or pajare of Salento. No mortar, no dressing of stones, just structures which provide shelter and home from the most basic of materials.

20/10/2025

Beautiful example of Liberty Architecture in Altare, Italy's ancient centre of glassmaking. The Museo Altare di Vetro is worth a visit, as is a poke around some of the other buildings which were erected in the town's heyday.

12/03/2025

Talbot Memorial Park Outreach Phase
Its been a fascinating and productive year, being involved with the communities of Port Talbot and Taibach, working together through a series of consultation events held to elicit opinions and ambitions for their beloved park.
The first, or Outreach Phase is now completed, and we have published a report on our findings. This will be used to inform a funding bid to resource the Community Design Phase, the next step in the process which is designed to help ensure that the community get the park they want.
The attached illustration summarises the results of the findings.

22/01/2025

Finally: A Planning Approval
We are delighted for our client: after three long years of uncertainty, Cornwall Council have given consent for a new Lifetime Home/Passivhaus dwelling in Lostwithiel. In spite of fierce opposition from neighbours we have managed to design a modest, sustainable, two bed cottage to be inserted carefully and respectfully into the conservation area. Its a modern design which responds to the site; the plan is highly efficient, with virtually no circulation space, and is sized specifically to accommodate our client's reclaimed furniture and artwork. Why this simple dwelling caused so much negativity is hard to understand: perhaps its a symptom of the planning policy which is partially responsible for our housing shortage?

21/01/2025

Digging For Britain
We love that programme on BBC. Alice Roberts and crew came to Llantwit Major recently to report on an excavation and it was fascinating to hear about the importance of Britain's oldest seat of learning: the monastery of St Illtud. And we couldn't help noticing how well one of our nicest projects fits into the historic fabric of the town, even though it's unashamedly modern. See if you can spot it in the overhead drone shot.

13/11/2024

Our experience in Low Energy Retrofitting is available! Must do more to get the word out! Any advice?

It can be hard to find good advice on how to make homes more energy efficient.