Award-Winning Architectural Design in Pembrokeshire

I am delighted to announce that GMW Design has won Best Residential and Small Commercial Designer at the LABC Wales Building Excellence Awards 2026.

The LABC Building Excellence Awards recognise quality, competence and commitment to raising standards across the construction industry. It is a great honour, and I am very proud of it.

As a regional winner, I will now represent Wales at the LABC Grand Final in London on Friday 22 January 2027, up against the best from across the UK.

A fourth LABC award

This award follows a successful year in 2018. I was named Pembrokeshire LABC Constructional Professional of the Year, and at the Carmarthenshire LABC awards I won Best Inclusive Building and Best Small Commercial Building.

It shows my work reaches beyond Pembrokeshire, across West Wales.

To be recognised by LABC again in 2026 means a great deal to me. It reflects the care, experience and attention to detail I try to bring to every project, whatever its size.

Designing in Pembrokeshire

GMW Design is based in Letterston and provides architectural design and building surveying services across Pembrokeshire and West Wales.

With more than 30 years’ experience in the construction industry, and 17 years running GMW Design, I work closely with homeowners, developers, builders, consultants and local authorities. I take projects from the first ideas through planning, Building Regulations and construction.

The work ranges from extensions, renovations and new homes to barn conversions, commercial projects and sensitive work on traditional and listed buildings.

A lot of it sits within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, where the bar is set high, and rightly so.

Stone walls, slate roofs, render, timber and metal cladding, the choice of external finishes, Pembrokeshire hedgebanks and the way a building sits on its site all matter to the Park Authority, and they matter to me too.

A good design here has to sit comfortably in its surroundings and feel like it belongs. It should respect the character of the area, but it still has to work for the people living in it, with good light, good space and a warm, efficient home.

Getting that balance right is the part of the job I enjoy most.

Attention to detail, from planning to site

I think this award comes down to detail.

A scheme that gets planning permission is only half the job. It then has to meet Building Regulations, and it has to make sense to the builder who prices it and builds it.

Good detail starts with accurate information. I use laser scanning for measured surveys, which records the existing building and site precisely. That matters on older stone buildings, where walls are rarely straight or square, and it means the design is based on what is actually there.

So I get the detail right from the start.

Wall and roof build-ups, insulation, junctions, drainage, ventilation and fire safety are all worked out on the drawings before the job goes to site, not after.

The drawings, notes and specifications all match. That means fewer questions on site, fewer delays and fewer surprises for the client.

The same care goes into the paperwork around a project. Discharging planning conditions, tree surveys, landscaping schemes, percolation tests, ecology requirements and the right materials all need tying up properly before work can start.
It is not the glamorous part of the job, but it is what keeps a project moving.

Working with LABC and Building Control

A good working relationship with Building Control makes a real difference to every project.

A clear, complete Building Regulations submission means a quicker approval, smoother inspections and a better finished building.

That is what the LABC awards recognise. Not just how a building looks, but how well it has been designed, detailed and built by the whole team.

Thank you

I would like to thank all the clients, builders, structural engineers, planning consultants, ecologists, tree surveyors, landscape designers, quantity surveyors, and the specialists who carry out flood consequence assessments and percolation tests, along with all the other professionals who have worked alongside me.

Over the years we have built our own eco-system of consultants, a close team who know how we work, we can manage the whole process for you, from the first survey to completion.

I would also like to thank the Building Control team at Pembrokeshire County Council for the nomination and for their continued help and support.

Good projects are always a team effort, and this award belongs to everyone involved.

On to the Grand Final

January will be a big day, and I am looking forward to representing Wales in London and celebrating the excellent work being done across the industry.

You can see the full list of LABC Wales winners and highly commended entries here:
https://www.labc.co.uk/news/labc-wales-winners-amp-highly-commended-2026

Architectural design services

GMW Design provides a full range of architectural and building design services, including:

• Accurate laser scanning surveys
• Measured building surveys
• New-build homes
• Residential extensions and alterations
• Renovation and refurbishment projects
• Barn and outbuilding conversions
• Listed buildings and conservation projects
• Commercial and small development projects
• Existing and proposed drawings
• Planning applications
• Listed Building Consent applications
• Building Regulations drawings and specifications
• Discharge of planning conditions
• Consultant coordination
• Tender and construction information

If you are thinking about an extension, a conversion or a new home in Pembrokeshire or West Wales, please get in touch and we can have a chat about what is possible for your site.