North Wales Society of Architects

The North Wales Society of Architects (NWSA; Cymdeithas Penseiri Gogledd Cymru; formerly the North Wales Architectural Society) is one of four branches of the Royal Society of Architects in Wales (RSAW). It was established in 1928 as an independent organisation, becoming a branch of the newly formed Society of Architects in Wales (as the RSAW was initially styled) in 1970 upon the restructuring of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

The Society champions better buildings, communities and the environment through architecture and its members. As of 2014 it represented over 120 chartered architects in the region.

The RSAW is the Wales region of the RIBA. RSAW was granted Royal status by the Privy Council in 1994. The society are also members of the Architects Benevolent Society and provide advice for members in the North Wales area.

Events & publications
The Society is noted as being a particularly active branch of the RIBA and organises an annual series of well-attended building visits and lectures, usually held from early autumn through to late spring. In line with NWSA's ethos of promoting architecture to a wider audience, these events are open to non-members and all with an interest in design and architecture.

Visits have included the 2014 Stirling Prize-winning Everyman Theatre, Liverpool, Copper Kingdom, Amlwch, recipient of the RSAW Building of the Year 2014 and Cefn Castell, Criccieth, RSAW Small Project of the Year, 2015.

The society has previously jointly produced the journal, Architecture Wales, with their South Wales counterpart,  and as the Chester & North Wales Architectural Society.

Governance
The Society is governed by its elected Council. Councillors are elected for a three-year term at the Society's Annual General Meetings and can serve a maximum of two consecutive terms. Council meets every two months and is led by the Society's President, who serves a maximum two-year term. There is no maximum term for the Society's Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer offices.

Design Consultation
NWSA offers a design review panel to provide impartial expert advice on the quality of designs submitted to local authority Planning Departments across North Wales.

Regalia
The Society's Presidential Chain of Office was designed in 1954 by Fattorini and Sons of Birmingham of hallmarked sterling silver finished in polished hard gold plate and vitreous enamelled in three colours. Between 1961 and 1994 the Society presented a Past President Medal, similarly designed and produced by Fattorini. This custom was reinstated in 2017.

Presidents
As of February 2024, the Society has been served by 46 presidents in its 96-year history, amongst them many celebrated luminaries of the profession.

Whilst there are inconsistencies in the years in office quoted below, due to Annual General Meetings being held at various times throughout the year, with the exception of the Second World War Presidents have served a single fixed two-year term.

Current President David G Hughes is the first two-time holder of the office.

For consistency and in the interests of historical accuracy, the dates shown are therefore taken directly from the Chain of Office.

• G A Humphreys		1928–1931

• Harold Hughes		1932–1933

• L W Burnett		1934–1935

• R Hall			1936–1937

• Herbert Luck North		1938–1939

• Sidney Colwyn Foulkes 	1939–1944

• F A Roberts		1945–1946

• Perceval Mitchell Padmore		1946–1947

• R Parker		1948–1949

• N F Shanks		1950–1951

• L Moseley		1952–1953

• D Hall			1954–1955

• F C Roberts		1956–1957

• N S Johnston		1958–1959

• Antony Clark		1960–1961

• B T Howells		1962–1963

• Stewart Powell Bowen		1964–1965

• Gwilym Parry Davies		1966–1967

• T Summers Davies	1968–1969

• Elizabeth Foulkes	1969–1970

• Eric Langford Lewis	1971–1972

• Frank Dann		1973–1974

• I ap Thomas		1975–1977

• R B Thomas		1977–1979

• R John Howard		1979–1981

• M H Roberts		1981–1983

• Robin Wolley		1983–1985

• Vernon Hughes		1985–1987

• W D (`Gwilym') Evans		1987–1989

• Jonathan W Knox		1989–1991

• Peter G Birkhead		1991–1993

• Richard Pritchard		1993–1995

• Phillip Eyton-Jones		1995–1997

• C P (`Skip') Belton		1997–1999

• Michael E Lavers		1999–2001

• Peter Stonebridge		2001–2003

• Diane Williams		2003–2005

• Mark E French		2005–2008

• Simon P Venables		2008–2011

• J Barrie M Williams		2011–2013

• David G Hughes 2013–2015

• Robert E Gray-Williams 2015–2017

• Barry Hellen 2017–2019

• Derwyn Owen 2019–2021

• Leonie Wainwright 2021–2023

• David G Hughes 2023–

Honorary Secretaries
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
 * G. Parry Davies ?-1964
 * Kenneth W. Favell 1965-?
 * Keith Harwood 1985-?
 * Ian T Thomas 1997
 * Mark E French ?  – 2014
 * Leonie Wainwright 2014 – 2016
 * Derwyn Owen 2016 – 2018
 * Gethin Jones 2018 – 2022
 * Derwyn Owen 2023 –

Honorary Treasurers
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
 * R John Howard 1978
 * W D (`Gwilym') Evans 1984
 * C P (`Skip') Belton 1994
 * J Barrie M Williams 1997 – 2011
 * Andrew Kelly 2011 –