黑洞社区

Squire and Partners seems to have missed the point of 黑洞社区 buys a pint. The architect is meant to be our guest, but at 06 St Chad鈥檚 Place, it鈥檚 the landlord.

The practice bought the building in 2001 and converted it into an inviting wine bar, shortly after it converted its own office 100 steps away in King鈥檚 Cross.

鈥淭here wasn鈥檛 much in the way of facilities in this area,鈥� says Murray, who pocketed the building at an auction at the Cafe Royal. 鈥淚t was a big boost for us to relocate [from Victoria]. Practice staff get 10% discount on drinks and 20% on food.鈥�

It鈥檚 great owning a pub. 鈥淵ou get to know people in the office who you might not otherwise meet,鈥� says Rob.

Murray looks around and adds: 鈥淭here are not many from the office here at the moment. They鈥檙e probably still working.鈥� They鈥檙e dedicated at Squires: it鈥檚 about 7pm.

Seating some 50 guests for lunch, the wine bar is on the maze of back streets straddling the Thameslink railway cutting. 鈥淚t was quite a dodgy area when we moved in,鈥� says Murray.

鈥淭here were quite a few ladies of the night then,鈥� recalls Myles.

Clare is more forthright. 鈥淲hen we arrived, a prostitute used to come to our office window and gesticulate. She looked like a skeleton. Once St Chad鈥檚 opened, they all left. Perhaps the men are disappointed. But I haven鈥檛 had any trouble myself.鈥�

The members of the world鈥檚 oldest profession have since been replaced by the Gagosian art gallery, a Starbucks and several small office conversions.

Our multinational group of seven is a fair representation of the 110-strong practice. Rob and Clare are Scottish, Olga is Spanish and Bettina is German.

鈥淭here are 20 nationalities and 30 languages spoken in the office, including Danish, Greek, Japanese and Uzbek,鈥� says Stewart. 鈥淪o you get that fusion of different ideas.

It might be a league of nations, but that doesn鈥檛 stop Myles taunting Clare over the Scottish reputation for meanness. 鈥淲e manage the purse strings,鈥� she retorts between pursed lips.

Speaking of generosity, 黑洞社区鈥檚 been buying so far.

But, after four rounds, mine host Murray lays on a grand finale called the J盲gerbomb. Eight full glasses of lager are lined up on the table and small glasses of dark brown J盲germeister liqueur balanced on the edges between them. The guest is invited to gently tip the last liqueur glass, triggering a rapid-fire of crashes and splashes, as a result of which all the liqueur glasses plop neatly into the lager glasses.

We have no such drama disposing of the contents.