黑洞社区

Clutching at final straws

How many people does a dictator have to kill before companies will rule out ever working for him again? Feilden Clegg Bradley said it would never work for Gaddafi again last Tuesday, after 230 deaths had been reported. Camillin Denny and Edward Cullinan Architects abandoned the dictator on Monday, when the toll exceeded 1,000. For engineers and QSs, however, the tipping point appears not to have been reached. Capita Symonds says it鈥檚 too early to say if it would work under the Mad Dog again, although what fresh evidence they are waiting on is unclear. Others, like Halcrow and WSP, openly say that business trumps politics. Signing off the corporate social responsibility report is going to be even more uncomfortable than normal this year.

Ecobuild a la moda

Ecobuild, the sustainable building expo, has always been the place to be if you want to find out whether the embodied carbon of slate is worse than the impact on forests of woodchip pellets. Yet it has never been the arbiter of style. Until now. The Italian Chamber of Commerce has opened a pavilion at the conference and has been flogging tickets at 拢60 a head for a dinner at the 鈥減restigious St Stephen鈥檚 club鈥�. The dress code? 鈥淓legant鈥�. Presumably that ruled out hemp clothing for those lucky enough to attend on Monday.

Quality not quantity

Anyone excited about what strange new shapes could grace London鈥檚 skyline is likely to be disappointed by Bloomberg鈥檚 new HQ. A source close to the Square Mile scheme tells me the financial news service is planning a demure office block to counter its 鈥渂rash鈥� image, which is perhaps wise, given that the inside of their current abode is packed with Bond villain-esque fish tanks. Foster + Partners will have to rein in its creative urges on the scheme - its design with Jean Nouvel for the Walbrook Square development site, which never got off the ground, was dubbed 鈥淒arth Vader鈥檚 helmet鈥� because of its bulbous shape.

Railing it in

Network Rail recently announced a major overhaul as part of a 鈥淏ig Society鈥�-style reorganisation. This involves slashing its 2,000-strong HQ workforce and creating 10 new regional director posts. Interestingly their glossy press release failed to mention the six-figure salaries set aside for the new roles. Is this part of the 鈥淏ig Salary Society鈥�?

Nimbies, nimbies everywhere

As angry developers and housebuilders rail against the government鈥檚 planning reforms, housing minister Grant Shapps insists that, far from pandering to Tory nimby tendencies, they will make development easier. What to make of this blog then, on the party鈥檚 website, from Dewsbury MP Simon Reevell? He says that because of the 鈥渢ransformative鈥� nature of the Localism Bill, council leaders 鈥渟hould now do the decent thing and suspend any planning consultations currently taking place in their areas until the Localism Bill is enacted鈥�, to stop 鈥渦npopular developments鈥� being 鈥渞ammed through against the express wishes of local people.鈥� Glad to see the nimbys have been well and truly routed in the party.