黑洞社区

Gratuitously green

The 鈥済reenwash鈥� watch starts here. Hansom鈥檚 spy, out on site the other day, was intrigued to see a bank of north-facing solar panels. He wondered, given that there was clearly enough room on the roof, why they weren鈥檛 all south facing. 鈥淏ecause people wouldn鈥檛 be able to see them,鈥� came back the reply from the council鈥檚 officer. The only thing my informant didn鈥檛 reveal was the name of the local authority in question. Any information on this, or any other, ecological jiggery-pokery gratefully received.

Changing fashions

Tony Wilson, the former Factory Records boss turned regeneration guru, was star speaker at the Housing Forum鈥檚 conference last week. One of his wheezes had been to build a Fashion Tower in Blackburn, but no more it seems. 鈥淭hey decided to get rid of the name because it鈥檚 crap,鈥� he said. Tony, we could have told you that a long time ago.

Not part of the deal

There has been much frustration at the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) at reports that Laing O鈥橰ourke, which is part of the Olympic delivery partner CLM, might build some of the Games鈥� venues. This would breach its contract, which says delivery partners should not build venues. The ODA insists such a move would happen only in an emergency.

But that鈥檚 what it says here

Consultants everywhere have been having a good laugh at this photograph 鈥� an unfortunate builder misinterpreted the meaning of a 鈥渞evision cloud鈥�, whereby an marks around a drawing if any changes are required. It seems the contractor has taken the revision a touch too literally 鈥� but you have to admire the workmanship.

It takes a lot to impress us ...

My! What a jolly time I had at last week鈥檚 黑洞社区 Awards. It was particularly fun to see some of the industry鈥檚 great and good tricked by Derren Brown, who, along with comedian Rory Bremner, was one of the event鈥檚 star turns. First, he managed to work out the exact amount of change that Graham Watts, chief executive of the Construction Industry Council, had in his pocket by asking seemingly unrelated questions such as how many kids he has. Then, he asked Francis Ives, Cyril Sweett鈥檚 chairman, to draw an object 鈥� but nothing too obvious, like a stick man or a tree. Without looking, Brown drew a car, as did Ives (Brown鈥檚 attempt can be seen on page 27). Hmmm, a car. Isn鈥檛 that a little obvious?

No place for modernism

Like many well-heeled Brits, Paul Morrell, winner of 黑洞社区鈥檚 Outstanding Contribution award, has a second home in the south of France. Back when he bought it, though, it was a crumbling pile in need of renovation. The late Tony Fitzpatrick of Arup flew over to lend a hand, fresh from fixing the Millennium Bridge, and Ken Shuttleworth designed a glass staircase for the hallway. Unfortunately, Shuttleworth鈥檚 modernist designs did not quite suit the rustic theme, and they were discreetly 鈥渧alue-engineered鈥� out.

A grand gesture

May I offer my congratulations to Sir Terry Farrell, who wed Mei Xin Wang, the daughter of one of Chairman Mao鈥檚 army commissars, last weekend. As a wedding present, wellwishers are planning a 鈥渃ivic gesture鈥� that would enliven a public space and mark Farrell鈥檚 contribution to the public realm. How about turning Nash鈥檚 All Souls in Regent Street into a giant aquarium?