黑洞社区

It鈥檚 7pm on a Wednesday, and the bar鈥檚 empty. The Thornton Tomasetti Postawa De Hoog team looks around in dismay.

鈥淲e should have taken you to our office,鈥� says Tanya. 鈥淲e have a pool table there,鈥� adds Helen.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 have enough desks, but we do have a pool table,鈥� grumbles Les.

Apparently, the powers that be at TTPdH 鈥� the British wing of US Thornton Tomasetti 鈥� felt their offices should be more attractive to their architect clients, so now the bar-style headquarters has TVs, a fridge for beer and a bar for vodka.

鈥淚t looks more like an advertising executive鈥檚 office than a structural engineer鈥檚,鈥� mutters Dave. What exactly a structural engineer鈥檚 office should look like, nobody can say.

Bob, one of the firm鈥檚 American directors, is eager to plug its portfolio, which includes the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, now the world鈥檚 tallest twin towers.

鈥淵ou might remember them from the Sean Connery film Entrapment,鈥� says Bob, with a tour guide鈥檚 wink. Apparently, the firm has 鈥渄one鈥� a few films. It built a giant model of Michael J Fox鈥檚 head and, another time, a full-size Boeing 747 to crash into the Hudson River. The latter caused problems, Bob says.

鈥淲e had rafts in place to allow it to sink at a certain pace,鈥� he recalls, 鈥渂ut Wesley Snipes got stuck in his seatbelt.鈥� Talk about problem-solving 鈥�

Talk turns to the recent profile of Zaha Hadid on ITV鈥檚 South Bank Show. Les worked with Hadid on the BMW plant in Leipzig so he鈥檚 reluctant to say what he thinks of her aquatics centre. They鈥檙e less reticent about Renzo Piano鈥檚 Shard, though. 鈥淩enzo鈥檚 a big client of Thornton Tomasetti so we love the Shard,鈥� says Bob. 鈥淥fficially.鈥�

There aren鈥檛 many architects that the group is willing to slag off. 鈥淲e work with most of them,鈥� says Les. 鈥淲e鈥檙e pimps, really.鈥�

Even Lord Rogers鈥� much maligned Millennium Dome, now the O2, gets approval.

鈥淚t was a heroic building when it was built,鈥� says Dave. 鈥淎 big success in terms of the project 鈥� just not in terms of budget.鈥�

鈥淲hat was going on inside it was wrong,鈥� says Les, 鈥渂ut now it鈥檚 just known for being a failure.鈥�

The group discuss the perils of fame. Unlike their architect partners, the TTPdH lot have no great wish for immortality.

鈥淵ou don鈥檛 want your 15 minutes of fame,鈥� says Bob, 鈥渂ecause in engineering you only seem to get it if something goes wrong.鈥�

鈥淏ut we like clients to remember us,鈥� says Tanya. 鈥淲e鈥檙e a bit out of the ordinary 鈥� the firm with the woman and guy with white hair.鈥�

Les rolls his eyes. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not exactly how I鈥檇 like to be remembered 鈥︹��