黑洞社区

Job hunting, BIM-style

The good people of Autodesk - the company that makes 3D building design software for construction firms - have a lot to thank Paul Morrell for. Our chief construction adviser can鈥檛 stop gushing about the brilliance of BIM, which happens to be one of the main products Autodesk markets to its clients. One of my hacks happened to meet the software company鈥檚 vice president, Pete Baxter, at an industry event in London. So, he queried, is Paul Morrell, in fact, on Autodesk鈥檚 payroll? No, came the reply 鈥� But if Morrell is keeping an eye out for his next role, Baxter said he would be 鈥渕ore than happy to take on a man of his calibre鈥�.

Architects go upmarket

RIBA president Angela Brady鈥檚 attempts to rebrand the institute as cool via the opening of a new 鈥渉ub鈥� in London鈥檚 Hoxton appear to have floundered after Brady changed her mind, saying the plan had merely been a metaphor. With that in mind, could 鈥渟ophisticated鈥� be a more realistic adjective for the marketing department to aim at? After all, the RIBA is hosting a wine-tasting event later this month that also features a talk by Jaime Valle of Foster + Partners on the practice鈥檚 award-winning Portia winery in Spain. Now that鈥檚 my idea of cool.

Politics will add years to you

The average age of first-time house buyers is, as we all know, steadily rising - but nowhere more so than at last week鈥檚 Conservative party conference in Manchester. At an event on Tuesday morning, housing minister Grant Shapps quoted the standard estimate of 37 years old. That evening, Westminster councillor Jonathan Glanz pushed it up to 38. By nightfall, some slightly inebriated delegates were overheard insisting it was 鈥渁bout 40 years old鈥� as they attempted to right the UK鈥檚 housing wrongs over a glass or two of complimentary wine. Nothing like a day at the Tory Conference to make you feel old 鈥�  

Unregulated remarks

Regs minister Andrew Stunell鈥檚 announcement last month that he was 鈥渦rgently鈥� setting up a compliance committee to investigate new homes that don鈥檛 meet their designed energy standards raised a few eyebrows - not least in his own department. The communities department press office was at a loss as to explain what their minister was talking about when my hack colleague called them up. Eventually we were told Stunell鈥檚 statement related to a one-off 鈥渃ompliance round table鈥� back in February and that there is no expectation that the committee will ever meet again. So I think we can probably dismiss Stunell鈥檚 revelation as a bit of party conference over-exuberance. As one official said wearily: 鈥淚鈥檓 rather hoping I never have to hear of it again.鈥�

Do as you would be done by

Understanding your clients is key to winning business, or so the well-worn mantra goes. But how far is your firm willing to take it? If said firm is EC Harris, the answer is very far indeed. The consultant鈥檚 head of health is a former health planner, its chief of aviation is a former air traffic controller and the boss of education is (you guessed it) a former headteacher. Full marks!