黑洞社区

Chosen watering hole: The Albany, London W1 
Ambience: Cavernous and dark with golden pillars and a blow-up sheep above the bar 
Topics: Flooding, sailing and the credit crunch 
Drinks drunk: 3 glasses red wine, 4 Peronis, 2 ciders, 2 pints London Pride, 2 cokes, 1 cranberry juice

At first, Linda seems concerned I might not know where Gloucester is. 鈥淚t鈥檚 that place that鈥檚 always flooding,鈥� she helpfully points out, before painting a vivid picture of last year鈥檚 downpours that submerged electricity substations and left thousands without power for days. 鈥淥ur office was just a whisker away from being flooded,鈥� she says, recalling how walls of water swept down the roads, leaving colleagues stranded in their cars all night and the office without water. But architects are a resourceful lot. 鈥淲e brought in a chemical loo and lots of bottled water,鈥� she says.

Hugh, on the other hand, was oblivious to it all 鈥� the first he heard about the floods was when he landed on the TV. It turns out he was sailing merrily around the north-west coast of Scotland while his colleagues were battling for survival back home.

Walls of water swept down the roads, leaving colleagues stranded in their cars all night

Sagra suggests that it might have been useful if he had been around. 鈥淵ou could have rescued everyone in your boat,鈥� she says. Martin, though, can鈥檛 resist pointing out that Hugh doesn鈥檛 actually own a yacht 鈥� to a chorus of laughter from the others.

鈥淚 do have a dinghy,鈥� he retorts as the group titter into their pints. Hugh is clearly a pragmatist. 鈥淚t鈥檚 much cheaper to sail other people鈥檚 yachts than buy your own,鈥� he says. Even the landlubbers around him can鈥檛 fault this logic.

I ask if all this flooding makes designing buildings a bit tricky. It does. 鈥淚鈥檓 working on one at the moment which is purposefully designed to flood,鈥� says Hugh. He explains that it鈥檚 an outdoor activity centre and the plan is to put all the accommodation upstairs and use the ground floor for storing the canoes. 鈥淎t least they鈥檒l be able to get home if it does flood,鈥� quips Martin.

I鈥檓 working on a building at the moment which is purposefully designed to flood.

Inevitably, conversation turns to the credit crunch. Linda has a plan. 鈥淲e鈥檙e just going to power through this one,鈥� she insists, with a bang of the table. The others agree with this gung-ho approach and begin animatedly discussing the virtues of working on public sector projects, perhaps with a view to diverting Hugh鈥檚 reminiscence about recessions of yore. 鈥淚 can remember working a three-day week. I became a house husband,鈥� he recalls, misty-eyed.

From the state of the economy, the discussion turns to the Severn Barrage and the company鈥檚 office jollies and meals, including the regular team breakfasts. 鈥淚 can never get up in time for the breakfast, though,鈥� admits Sagra 鈥� and with that thought everyone realises it鈥檚 already time to head for Paddington to catch the last train for the long, long journey home.