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South Wales architects the Lewis Partnership are helping to bring one of the most historic university sites in Wales bang up-to-date with a major makeover.
The Lampeter campus of the University of Wales Trinity St David contains a mixture of historic buildings and more contemporary structures which need renovation.
Even the biggest fan of the Lampeter university campus would have to admit that some of the more modern buildings on site have been in need of a makeover, said Philip Lewis, managing director of the Lewis Partnership Ltd, of Llanelli.
There has been an university on the Lampeter site since the early part of the 19th century, so we considered ourselves very privileged to help bring a new, modern and vibrant look to buildings which were looking a little sad.
The 800,000 project is in the hands of WRW Construction, with all the design work carried out by the Llanelli-based Lewis Partnership.
Its been challenging and interesting project for us as architects and it has cemented a growing partnership with the University of Wales Trinity St David, said Mr Lewis.
In recent years, we have worked with the university administrators on improvements to the Carmarthen campus at the old Trinity College.
Now, weve had the chance to develop and improve the Lampeter campus and we hope it makes a big difference to the lives of the academics and students working on the campus.
The work on the current sports hall has involved new cladding, painting and further improvements such as new heating and flooring.
One of the old squash courts has been put to different use with the construction of a gym and a first floor dance studio.
The first phase of the work is due for completion at the end of this month.
The second part of the project sees the refurbishment of the arts building.
The front faade gets a makeover and classrooms are being given a major facelift. As always, the watchword has been on sustainability and the environment with sun louvres added to the building.
The project also includes improvements to the concourse in front of the arts building.
The refurbished buildings will meet all the universitys requirements for accessibility and we hope they meet with the approval of all who use them.
Weblinks
http://www.lewispartnership.co.uk
http://www.trinitysaintdavid.ac.uk
http://www.wrw.co.uk
On Facebook, search Lewis Partnership Ltd.
On Twitter, look for @Lewis_Architect
Photos above: Two artistic impressions of revamped sports hall.Below, a visualisation of the arts building.

The latest South Wales Evening Post gardening column by Aberglasney Head Gardener Joseph Atkin -
This mild weather we are enjoying seems like an apology for last years hard winter and it is much appreciated.

Lilium lancifolium is a very interesting orange species that you can grow as a vegetable and eat like a potato.
Tips for the Week
Plant early vegetables
Make the most of the dry weather to prepare seed beds for direct sowing
Dahlia can be potted up
Check your glasshouse for pests and deal with them now before the glasshouse gets full
Use fleece or carpet to cover the soil before planting it makes a big difference
There is still time to divide perennials but be careful of new buds
Bare root plants can be planted now

Check plants that were fleeced for the winter but dont remove fleece as there may be further frost

Lilium sargentiae

Lilium taliense

Popular Carmarthen comedy entertainer Phil Doyle will be staging a fund-raising evening at the Carmarthen Town AFC clubhouse and community centre on Saturday, May 26.
The show starts at 7pm. Tickets are 12 per person, including buffet.
Phil has appeared on many TV shows including New Comedians and Talking Telephone Numbers.
Phil has won the Jersey Variety Club Award for Best Comedian for three years running.

The Carmarthen Town AFC 2012 Sportsmans Dinner will be held at the The Ivy Bush Royal Hotel on Friday 18th May.
BBC TV pundit Steve Claridge will be the guest speaker.
Steve is one of a very select few players who have amassed 1000 career appearances. He scored more than 250 goals during a 22 year career that saw him playing for more than 20 clubs.
His appointment as manager of Millwall, a club for whom he is regarded as a legend by their fans at The Den, came after previous successful Player Manager roles at Portsmouth in 2000/2001 and Weymouth in 2003/2004. However, he was sacked as Manager of Millwall in July 2006 after less than four weeks in the job.
Steve is now the leading face of The Football League Show, which follows Match of The Day every Saturday evening, and is a regular pundit for Football Focus, Live Championship matches on BBC1 & BBC2, Score and Radio 5 Live including the iconic Monday Night Club.
Steve is a high profile after dinner speaker with humorous stories about his on and off field trials and tribulations of a 20 year football career, his gambling addictions and the roller coaster ride that is his life.

Members of Llanelli Rotary Club carried out bucket collections at Llanelli's Tesco superstore last week as part of the service organisation's 'Thanks for Life - End Polio Now' appeal.
Over two days, the Rotarians raised 900.
Pictured are: Monro Walters, Gordon Battersby, Dennis Wooley and Richard Thomas.
The collections were timed to mark 'Rotary Day-Thanks for Life', an annual RIBI project set up to highlight and celebrate the humanitarian work of Rotarians. Its number one aim is to help eradicate polio throughout the world.Now in its third year, Thanks for Life saw clubs and members across Great Britain and Ireland organising activities on and around 23rd February (Rotary Day) - the anniversary of the first Rotary meeting in Chicago more than 100 years ago - to raise awareness and understanding of Rotary in their community and maximise donations to The Rotary Foundation to assist polio eradication.
Weblink-
http://www.ribi.org/thanks-for-life

Cr Meibion Llanelli Concert at the Gravells Subaru Showroom in Kidwelly. Soloist: soprano Joy Cornock. The posters on the wall were all about precision engineering and powerful gearboxes but there was nothing mechanical about Cr Meibion Llanellis performance at the Gravells Subaru showroom in Kidwelly.
Yes, they were precise.
Yes, they provided some interesting musical gear-changes.
Yes, there was plenty of power.
But there was much, much more and , as always, it was all served up with a passion which has become a hallmark of one of the finest choirs in Wales.
The concert was a fund-raiser for the Llanelli Sea Cadet Corps (TS Echo) to commemorate their 70th anniversary and the Warship Week (1942) adoption by Llanelly of the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Echo.
The President of TS Echo, Lt Col David Mathias, provided the military background to the occasion in an illuminating opening address.
And there were reference points to World War Two in the choirs programme most notably Y Tangnefeddwyr (about the Swansea Blitz) and the Requiem, a piece first performed by the choir on their recent visit to sHertogenbosch to mark the liberation of the Netherlands city by Welsh soldiers during the war.
It wasnt all war, though, as the choir served up some old favourites.
Myfanwy, Nant y Mynydd, Anthem, Swing Low, Amen and Ride The Chariot were all warmly-received.
Under music director D Eifion Thomas, the choir pulled out all the stops on Verdis La Vergine Degli Angeli from la Forza del Destino, which featured guest soprano soloist Joy Cornock.
The soprano was a big hit with the audience with her solo spots, including Ivor Novellos Waltz of my heart and a dramatic rendition of Puccinis O mio babbino caro (Oh My Beloved Father).
The accompanist for the concert was Joy Amman Davies, musical director of the Morriston Orpheus Choir.

Pictures: Choir members in full voice; David Gravell and the Llanelli Sea Cadets guard of honour welcoming the audience to the concert; soprano soloist Joy Cornock.

St Davids Day (Dydd Gyl Dewi Sant) is the feast day for Waless patron saint, so Llanellis biggest bakery marking the occasion in style.
Jenkins the Bakers will be rolling out patriotic products to make March 1st a real feast.
There will be a proper Welsh theme to our products before, during and immediately after St Davids Day, said Russell Jenkins (above), a director at the bakery.
We are already well known for helping to put the accent on all things Welsh at our bakery and our shops, but this year we will be making an extra special effort.
Among the products hitting the shops later this week (February 20) will be
Welsh Beef Pie, the Welsh Pastie, Welsh Cakes, Wholemeal Welsh Cakes, Bara Brith, Teisin Lap (cake on a plate) and even Welsh Cakes without fruit as the bakery likes to cater for all tastes!
A new Jenkins Bakery product to mark St Davids Day this year will be a rustic bakestone made with an addition of malted brown flour and kibbled wheat to add to the plain and fruited bakestone range.
We pride ourselves as being a bakery business which knows its customers and we know how people love to celebrate St Davids Day, added Mr Jenkins.
The Welsh-themed products will be available until March 12.
The Jenkins bakery employs 300 people, full and part-time, across 25 different stores in South Wales.
The company has the Gold Standard Welsh Food Hygiene Award and the Investors in People award.
The business employs 70 people at its Trostre HQ, while the Jenkins shop network stretches from Carmarthen to Bridgend. There are 13 shops in Carmarthenshire and even one as far afield as Powys.

Llandeilo businessman and brewery owner Simon Buckley says traders in Llandeilo will be sorry to see the Welsh Game Fair leave its traditional home at Gelli Aur in the Tywi Valley.

Carmarthens leading theatre arts school has picked St Davids Day (Thursday, March 1) to announce a boost for the Welsh language.
Stagecoach Theatre Arts Carmarthen will soon launch new bilingual classes for early years pupils at the school.
Weve had lots of requests for Welsh in our early years classes, said Stagecoach Carmarthen principal Liane Davies.
We already have the resources as I am a fluent Welsh speaker, along with two of my early stages staff, so it was just a question of testing the opinion of our students and their mums and dads.
Everyone seems very keen on the idea, so, from the start of the April term, one of the early years classes for four to six-year-olds will be a bilingual class.
I am a passionate supporter of the Welsh language and think that everyone deserves the best possible start in life by being bilingual.
I think Stagecoach as a national organisation will be considering whether it wants to roll out the idea across Wales eventually.
For now, though, we will be in the vanguard helping to increase the use of Welsh.
Dance, drama and singing is all very much based around self-confidence and many of the pupils that come to us at a young age have that confidence in the Welsh language from using it at home or at nursery schools.
The skills they will be taught at the school will be just the same, but for those who want it we will now be able to do so through the medium of Welsh. We will, of course, also be continuing to hold a specifically English language early years class.
Thinking long-term, there are great opportunities out there in the arts and the media in Wales. Helping our pupils get the opportunity to read a script in Welsh, to work in Welsh TV and theatre is one of our key aims.
Stagecoach Theatre Arts Carmarthen has its base at the Model Church in Wales School.
The school opened in May 2009 and became an instant success. The school now attracts students from the three counties of Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion.
In recent years, Stagecoach Theatre Arts Carmarthen has staged the musicals Billy Elliot and Oliver.
Liane added: Our aim is always to nurture and develop four to 18-year-olds to fulfil their potential through dance, drama and singing.
Its not all about treading the boards on stage. Early stages classes focus on allowing the children to express themselves, while at the same time building up confidence, poise and self-esteem. Above all, we make sure the experience is fun! The children love it.
If you want to find out more about Stagecoach Carmarthen, contact Principal Liane Davies, phone: 0845 604 1422. Email - carmarthen@stagecoach.co.uk.
Website - http://www.stagecoach.co.uk/carmarthen
Pictured above: Sam Bolton, currently a Stage 1 student at Stagecoach Theatre Arts Carmarthen.

The Ashburnham Championship Links golf course in Pembrey has just been given a Top 10 ranking in a new guide to Britains best value courses.
National Club Golfer published its guide to the 100 most affordable courses in Britain.
And The Ashburnham was one of the highest ranked courses in Wales, finishing in sixth position.
Weve always known that The Ash is great value for money and this guide just reinforces that fact, said Ashburnham club manager Huw Morgan.
The guide focuses on the Top 100 courses with a green fee under 50.
Mr Morgan said: The Ashburnham is already universally recognised as an excellent course, playable all the year around.
But it is also great to get the recognition for being able to deliver value-for-money for golfers.
Last year, The Ash was featured in the National Club Golfer guide to Britains best courses under 80.
We were ranked No32 in that guide, said Mr Morgan.
The guide described The Ashburnham as follows
This is a links where the start and end do little justice to what lies between. Ashburnham is consistently excellent from the 3rd to the 15th inclusive . . . the 15th is a brilliant brute at 464 yards.
Dan Murphy, editor of National Club Golfer, said he wanted the magazine to put together guides which realistically reflected the fact that many golfers played to a budget.
Mr Murphy said the guides were an appraisal of the best Britain has to offer.
He added: In a bid to capture the spirit of this enterprise, the deliberately intangible criterion was as follows: If you were in charge of taking a group of like-minded golfers away on a trip, are you confident that they would have a memorable day for all the right reasons here?
The Ashburnham Golf Club will host a number of top events over the coming years
2012 Welsh Ladies Open Stroke Play Championships
2013 Mens Welsh Amateur Championships
2014 Ladies British Open Amateur Stroke Play Championships
2015 Mens Welsh Stroke Play Championships
Club manager Mr Morgan added: Thats quite a portfolio of events for us at The Ashburnham and we are delighted to be staging them. We can promise a true championship test for each event and the warmest of Welsh welcomes.
The Ashburnham is the course where the great Welshman and winning Ryder Cup Captain Dai Rees won the PGA title in 1959. It has long been regarded as one of the best links courses in Britain.
The Ashburnham takes its name from the 5th Earl of Ashburnham, who once owned the land and became the clubs inaugural President in 1894.
Two other Ryder Cup Captains have been successful in their playing careers at The Ashburnham in the shape of Bernard Gallacher, who won the Schweppes PGA Championship in 1969, and Sam Torrance, who won the Martini Tournament in 1976.
The Ashburnham has a proud history of hosting many of the major amateur tournaments, having first held a Welsh Amateur Championship in 1904.
Last year, The Ashburnham was the venue for the Mens Home Internationals.