黑洞社区

It鈥檚 good to talk

Last week I mentioned the problems Bouygues UK was having with the phones at its Waterloo head office. Well, my dig at the company, which counts the third largest mobile phone operator in France as its parent organisation, prompted Ian Gunter, its business development boss, to send me a mobile phone with his number programmed into it as my own hotline. Touch茅 Ian. Never fear though, the company isn鈥檛 being wasteful in these difficult times 鈥� it only had three minutes of call time on it.

By royal appointment

It鈥檚 a relief to know at least one UK sporting venue was completed in time for the event it was meant to stage. The managers at Epsom racecourse were clearly delighted with the delivery of the first phase of their new stand, built by Willmott Dixon, in time for the Derby last week. So pleased, in fact, that they upgraded a few guests from the contractor to the royal box on Ladies Day as a thank you. Sadly, the group failed to spot any of the event鈥檚 more regal attendees, but at least the balcony provided an excellent vantage point for taunting the rest of the Willmott Dixon party in the double-decker bus on the other side of the finish line.

Ready for this jelly?

One of the most important competitions of our time and a highlight of the London Festival of Architecture, kicks off next week. Yes, it鈥檚 the battle to design a jelly. 黑洞社区 had already revealed that the competition by self-styled 鈥渃urators of fine jellies鈥� Bompas & Parr had attracted big-name firms such as Grimshaw and Alsop, but only now have we discovered the full magnitude of this clash. The entry from Foster + Partners 鈥� no strangers to the wobbly form, of course 鈥� was the result of designs and re-designs frantically faxed over from Switzerland by Lord Foster himself.

Frank about Gordon

Delegates at the British Council of Offices (BCO) annual conference in Brussels last week were treated to an analysis of UK politics by none other than Andrew Marr, the BBC鈥檚 former political editor. However, some delegates had already made decisions about the political landscape. Roger Madelin, chief executive of King鈥檚 Cross developer Argent, asked Marr how we ended up with a 鈥渓oony bloke who can鈥檛 work in a team鈥� as prime minister. He didn鈥檛 finish there 鈥� given his own platform later in the day he insisted, in his usual temperate language: 鈥淭his isn鈥檛 a political statement, but until this miserable, moody git goes, we鈥檙e all f***ed. I wouldn鈥檛 trust him to run a whelk stall.鈥� I鈥檇 be interested to hear what he鈥檇 say if he was being political鈥�

Out and proud

Madelin clearly wasn鈥檛 on his own with his anti-Gordon view. While he refused to say who he was going to vote for, that reticence wasn鈥檛 widely shared. In fact, the whole BCO conference had the air of a Tory coming-out party. It was suddenly OK to be a Tory and proud. While Nick Ridley, the conference chair, confessed he knew fellow panellist Noel Manns of Europa Capital from their days as Conservative party activists, Giles Brandreth, former Tory MP and professional jumper-wearer, gave the after-dinner speech. Nevertheless, I鈥檓 sure Brown won鈥檛 be quaking in his boots at the Tory resurgence 鈥� he probably never had the pinstriped BCO members earmarked as his core vote in the first place.

Pink is the new green

I am told that law firm Eversheds鈥� new offices in the City, which opened last week, feature something called 鈥減ink noise鈥�. Apparently, eerie silence left by the lack of hum from air-conditioning in the naturally ventilated building was so distracting that the thoughtful designers introduced background noise to help workers concentrate. If it all becomes too much and they want to lie down, sleeping pods are also provided.