THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT  
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, July 12, 1996                 TAG: 9607120473
SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: BY MYLENE MANGALINDAN, STAFF WRITER 
                                            LENGTH:   68 lines

CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION: ***************************************************************** [This information appeared in a Business news story on page D1 of THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT on July 15, 1996.] Friday's news account incorrectly named Tazewell Building Associates as one of the parties involved in the proposed merger. There is no connection between Williams, Tazewell and Associates and Tazewell Building Associates. [UNPUBLISHED CORRECTION] [Oceanlink High School should have been Ocean Lakes High School.] [Unpublished correction added 7/15/96.] ***************************************************************** ARCHITECTURAL MERGER NOT MUCH OF A SURPRISE TAF JOINS REGION'S LARGEST FIRMS WITH TAZEWELL ADDITION.

The speed of the rumors shocked Oliver Farinholt.

Nearly all of his clients had heard the news. The TAF Group, a Virginia Beach-based architecture, engineering and construction firm, merged this week with William Tazewell Building Associates, one of the region's most prestigious architectural firms. It became official Wednesday, Farinholt said.

``When we started calling clients (Thursday) morning, eight out of 10 clients already knew about it,'' said Farinholt, president of the TAF Group.

The TAF Group is a multi-disciplined corporation involved in architecture, civil engineering, surveying and construction. It was formed in September 1994 by a merger of the Talbot Group, an engineering company, Walsh/Ashe Associates Inc., an architecture outfit, and the Forterra Corp., a construction firm.

The merger with Norfolk-based Tazewell Building Associates makes the TAF Group one of the three largest architecture-design companies in the region, Farinholt said.

It boosts the number of TAF employees from 86 to 111, said Janice Hall, a TAF spokeswoman. Thirty-one people will comprise the architectural group alone, she said.

``It allows us to go to a more global market,'' Farinholt said about the reasons behind the merger. ``Clients are looking for more diverse services. You used to go to an architecture firm just to design a building. Now they're looking for more design-build projects.''

The addition of Tazewell will increase and complement the TAF Group's areas of specialization and expertise, giving the client more services from site selection to construction.

Completed after two and a half months of negotiations, the merger resulted in a stock swap and involved no cash, Farinholt said. The TAF Group is a privately-held stock corporation.

Tazewell chairman Brad Tazewell will become vice president of architectural marketing. Tazewell President and CEO Art Gaskin will work in architecture and marketing development. His title and duties are being worked out.

Tazewell Building Associates derived prominent name recognition partly because it has been the training ground for principals at many other architecture and design firms in the area.

Several Tazewell designs punctuate the Hampton Roads area. They include the Norfolk Scope, the Norfolk Southern Tower and the Virginia Beach municipal court building. TAF was responsible for Oceanlink High School, the Virginia Beach Pavilion and others. ILLUSTRATION: JIM WALKER

The Virginian-Pilot

Norfolk Southern Tower is one of several buildings designed by

Tazewell Associates. by CNB