黑洞社区

Definitely obviously

鈥淥bviously鈥� was the word of the day when Gatwick airport launched a jazzy marketing campaign at the Shard designed to boost its bid to build a second runway, in the race to expand airport capacity in the South-east. Posters, memory sticks, bags and name badges all sported the word 鈥渙bviously鈥�, unsubtly pressing home the argument Gatwick is the 鈥渙bvious鈥� choice for an additional runway. Amusingly, Gatwick鈥檚 masterplanner Sir Terry Farrell was reminded by a hack that in a former life he had worked with Thames Gateway on a proposal for an island airport in the estuary. A red-faced Farrell said the Estuary airport had been one of a number of proposals with the ultimate aim of 鈥渇lood mitigation鈥� and he was now 鈥渇ully convinced鈥� Gatwick was the way forward. Obviously.

Sonata for one hand

Anyone who picked up last week鈥檚 issue of 黑洞社区 will know the City of London鈥檚 outgoing planning officer Peter Rees is not bowing out quietly. One colourful anecdote, which for reasons of space did not make the piece, regards Uruguayan-born Walkie Talkie architect Rafael Vi帽oly. Rees recounted playing duets with Vi帽oly, 鈥渉im playing the piano and me playing the viola鈥�, which he found 鈥渟lightly infuriating鈥�. How come? 鈥淗e wouldn鈥檛 switch his blackberry off,鈥� Rees recalled. 鈥淪o he鈥檇 be playing a sonata with his left hand while he was answering his blackberry with his right! He鈥檚 an amazing guy.鈥�

Pushing the boundaries

David Twohig, head of design and placemaking at developer Battersea Power Station Development Company, could scarcely contain his excitement when speaking about the station鈥檚 redevelopment at a Built Environment Networking鈥檚 event last week. Designs by Frank Gehry and Norman Foster for the third phase, a mixed-use scheme to the south, will be unveiled imminently and, he teased, 鈥渨hat Frank is proposing is pretty out there鈥�. Given that Battersea Power Station already features on the album cover of Pink Floyd鈥檚 Animals (alongside a flying pig) and in blockbuster film Batman: The Dark Knight, we can鈥檛 wait to find out what 鈥減retty out there鈥� could mean.

A league of their own

Premiership footballers are known for their collections of swanky mansions, but a group of players from Liverpool and Arsenal are taking property investment a whole lot more seriously by investing in, and becoming directors of, a property company. The league鈥檚 top scorer, Liverpool鈥檚 Luis Suarez, along with his teammates Jos茅 Enrique S谩nchez and Lucas Leiva and Arsenal duo Santi Cazorla and Mikel Arteta, are involved, according to reports. The players have become directors of Capital & Centric Investments LLP, set up by Manchester-based developer Capital & Centric. We presume there鈥檚 a table football table in the boardroom.

All in

Last year the government鈥檚 Construction 2025 report set the target of making the industry more diverse. It鈥檚 pleasing to see many firms are getting to grips with doing just that. Consultant Gardiner & Theobald has launched a schools-based initiative called Change the Skyline to encourage young people, and in particular young women, to the sector. Meanwhile the RICS launched its Class of Your Own secondary schools-based project last week, which will promote construction careers to pupils from a diverse array of backgrounds.