黑洞社区

Up in the air

Commissioned by London mayor Sadiq Khan, Margaret Hodge鈥檚 scathing report on the Garden Bridge fiasco makes for an often-illuminating read. Notwithstanding the seemingly cavalier attitude of some involved in the project, Hodge reveals interesting tit-bits concerning how aspects of the yet-to-be-started thing developed. One such nugget is her observation that in January 2013 鈥� a month before an official tender went out for an architect for what would become the Garden Bridge 鈥� a Transport for London official met with Thomas Heatherwick and actress Joanna Lumley to discuss procurement options for the scheme during a ride on the 鈥淎ir Line鈥� cable car down river in London鈥檚 Docklands. Why that particular venue was requested is not explained in Hodge鈥檚 report 鈥�

Fitz fits Bovis鈥� bill

Bovis Homes appears to have scored a result by enticing former Galliford Try boss Greg Fitzgerald out of retirement to head up its own operation. In the wake of bad publicity 鈥� not least a raft of 鈥� plus the distraction of dealing with proposed bids from Redrow and, well, Galliford Try, Bovis was in need of a firm hand on the tiller. Citywatchers concur that . Said one: 鈥淕alliford has to wait six months before it can take another tilt at Bovis, even assuming it fancied its chances. And now it鈥檚 unlikely to want to go toe-to-toe with its former 鈥榞olden boy鈥� in the top job.鈥� Said another: 鈥淗e doesn鈥檛 need the money,鈥� noting Fitzgerald鈥檚 lucrative three-year deal, worth a potential 拢7m. This source came up with the best suspected reason for him saying yes: 鈥淗e was probably bored-bollocked stupid.鈥�

Tall and taller

Nothing had been officially seen or heard about Mitsubishi Estate鈥檚 6-8 Bishopsgate tower in the City of London since the summer of 2015 鈥� until last week, when the Japanese client resubmitted the scheme for planning. The client had been beavering away behind the scenes with its project team 鈥� including development manager Stanhope, architect Wilkinson Eyre, engineer Arup and cost manager Alinea 鈥� to redesign the tower, stretching it to 50 storeys in height, up from the previously consented 40 storeys. As the client itself pointed out, this was partly a response to a flurry of consents for tall towers nearby including 1 Leadenhall, 1 Undershaft and 22 Bishopsgate. As one source close to the project noted, there鈥檚 no point in a viewing gallery if there鈥檚 no view to be had.

All at sea 鈥� for a good cause

The seadogs among 黑洞社区鈥檚 readership will be chuffed to learn the Little Britain Challenge Cup (LBBC), the construction industry鈥檚 annual sailing charity get-together, celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Speaking about the 2017 event, held off the Isle of Wight, the LBBC鈥檚 chairman 鈥� and Domus marketing director 鈥� David Kong said: 鈥淭his year we鈥檝e secured The Island Sailing Club, which organises the world鈥檚 largest sailing event, the Round the Island race, to create an exciting racing programme. We also have a new venue at Shepards Wharf, with its own dedicated marina, and the Sugar Store, where we can host our new festival-style on-shore events.鈥�

And he really wants to better last year鈥檚 haul of 拢20,449: 鈥淢ost of all, for our 30th birthday present, we want to raise more than ever for the great charities we support.鈥� We wholeheartedly agree. This year鈥檚 event is on 15 and 16 September, and more info can be found at .