黑洞社区

More the merrier

At London鈥檚 Sadler鈥檚 Wells Theatre last week, one of my reporters found himself at a Willmott Dixon suppliers鈥� day. Chief operating officer John Waterman told the 500 or so guests: 鈥淒on鈥檛 be afraid to hear something more than once.鈥� It was initially unclear whether this was a piece of advice or a warning, but the next 18 minutes on 鈥渧alues鈥� soon extinguished any doubt in my hack鈥檚 mind.

Ducking hell

It was an informative day, rounded off with life coach Pete Cohen handing out rubber ducks to the audience. These were not toys for their kids to play with in the bath, but metaphors for their own nagging self-doubt. Cohen is the author of Shut the Duck Up 鈥� the blurb for the book on Amazon reads: 鈥淎re you plagued by constant negative dialogue running around in your head? Like the incessant quacking of a duck?鈥� My hack tells me he was suitably empowered after Cohen issued the following instruction: 鈥淚 dare you to leave here today and grow.鈥� And he has 鈥� helped by his yellow plastic duck, of course 鈥�

Dirty joke

At a grilling by the chairs of parliament鈥檚 various select committees last week, the prime minister was told to get a shift on with legislation that will pave the way, finally, for the restoration of the Palace of Westminster. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had chunks of sewage on people鈥檚 desks,鈥� complained Labour MP Chris Bryant. Theresa May replied: 鈥淲hen I was home secretary, my office was flooded. And it wasn鈥檛 just water.鈥� Just for once, I was glad May鈥檚 answer wasn鈥檛 more solid.

Old news

At the launch of the House of Lords鈥� science and technology committee鈥檚 report on offsite manufacturing last week, one of my hacks got chatting to Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn, one of the committee members. Having discussed the report, my colleague asked the Conservative peer what else floated his boat. 鈥淎rchaeology,鈥� came the reply. Turns out his lordship is off to an isolated Greek island later this year to complete the last season of a four-year dig for artefacts dating back to 2000 BC. 鈥淢eans I miss the party conference season,鈥� he added, with what might have been a wink. Plenty of 2,000-year-old artefacts at such gatherings, I鈥檇 have thought.

Architect speak

Architect Duggan Morris is perhaps best known for the Pink 黑洞社区 at the King鈥檚 Cross redevelopment 鈥� it鈥檚 officially called R7 but no one calls it that because its exterior sports two shades of pink. The practice has now changed its name: one bit is now called Mary Duggan Architects and the other Morris + Company after founder Joe Morris. According to its twitter biog, Morris + Company is 鈥渁 company of voices, underpinned by a creative and collaborative approach to design鈥�. Nowhere does it say it鈥檚 a flipping architect. Maybe that鈥檚 fine once you鈥檙e as famous as Coca Cola. But when you鈥檙e brand-new, it could be a marketing oversight.

Good taste

One of my hacks bumped into Skanska鈥檚 UK chief executive, Greg Craig, recently and talk turned to tall towers. Skanska is coming to the end of its work on the Scalpel in the City of London. The firm was, of course, also the contractor behind Foster + Partners鈥� Gherkin. I would say that it鈥檚 still the king of the City鈥檚 tall buildings, 14 years after it opened, and it seems the workers putting it up were treated like kings too. Canteens dotted about the 41-storey building at St Mary Axe included scrambled eggs and smoked salmon on their menus. With a bagel and gherkin perhaps?