黑洞社区

Two strikes and you鈥檙e out

You needed no more evidence that negotiations over the strike price from EDF鈥檚 Hinkley Point plant - which lasted well over a year - had been a torturous affair than the sight of EDF boss Vincent De Rivaz鈥� face. During a press conference following the announcement, energy secretary Ed Davey explained that should EDF decide to build a second nuclear plant in the UK at Sizewell, there would be fresh negotiations on a strike price for that plant. He laughed at the prospect, as did EDF group chief Henri Proglio, but De Rivaz bore the mask of a man contemplating being sent back to the trenches.

鈥楳onstrous鈥� crystal

London mayor Boris Johnson鈥檚 announcement this month that the Victorian Crystal Palace is to be rebuilt caused me to reminisce about the debacle first time around, covered extensively in the pages of this magazine. Over 200 architects sent in their best work, only to have them all rejected for the committee鈥檚 own design, a brick building, with an iron dome designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It was ridiculed, with one correspondent in our 6 July 1850 issue describing the proposal as 鈥渕onstrous鈥�. In the end, Joseph Paxton came in with his iconic glass design at the last minute. This time round it will be left to Chinese billionaire Ni Zhaoxing to 鈥減ut a missing piece of British history back in place鈥� as the Daily Mail put it. You can read a full account of the scheme鈥檚 heritage at
bit.ly/1au1TXJ.

We鈥檝e been Googled

Not satisfied with simply dominating the internet, Google鈥檚 secretive development unit Google X is dabbling in all sorts of other areas that may change the way we live, including glasses that connect to the internet and self-driving cars. Now Google X has construction in its sights. Reports suggest Google has developed a technology called Genie, that standardises and automates the design and construction process, potentially saving 30-50% on costs and cutting design time by 30-60%. Google believes the technology could generate it $120bn a year - almost what the entire UK construction industry brings in. Gulp!

Eyres and graces

A new exhibition on London鈥檚 Great Estates may be of particular interest to one architect. The exhibition, curated by New London Architecture at the 黑洞社区 Centre in Store Street until 19 December, looks at the influence that major landowners such as the Crown Estate, the Grosvenor Estate and the Bedford Estate have had on the city. Another is the Eyre Estate, whose family has owned much of St John鈥檚 Wood since 1733 and includes Wilkinson Eyre co-founder Jim Eyre. The estate last hit the headlines two years ago when it sold off the 5.5 acre St John鈥檚 Wood Barracks site to a Malaysian billionaire for a cool 拢250m.

For sale: London

And over to Berkeley Group鈥檚 HQ for the launch of 鈥渋ndependent鈥� research they commissioned from academics Tony Travers and Christine Whitehead on the threats facing the London housing market. Berkeley chief executive Rob Perrins said that as 鈥渃ontrol freaks鈥�, the firm found it hard to let go and give the academics room to come to their own conclusions. Fortunately for Berkeley, it seems their findings support the firm鈥檚 view: both broadly agree that foreign buyers are good news. Phew!