黑洞社区

Straight from the PR team鈥檚 mouth

I鈥檓 pleased to report some good news about Bovis Homes. The firm hit the headlines earlier this year when it was forced to set aside 拢10m to appease some customers fed up with the bodged jobs they discovered when handed the keys to their houses. New boss Greg Fitzgerald promptly sent most of his staff on customer training programmes. The new broom seems to be sweeping clean, according to satisfied Bovis customer Helen from Cheltenham, who (I am told) had her doubts about new-builds. Such has been the fantastic customer service she got from Bovis, she has totally changed her mind about them. And who was the conveyor of this great news? The Bovis Homes press office, of course.

A premier (inn) idea

The vast majority of construction industry firms take staff health and safety very seriously. But some appear to take it more seriously than others. Take SMD, a Poole-based steel decking firm that eschews subcontractors, preferring to directly employ site workers. To look after their welfare, it books hotel accommodation for employees working away from home. This, while a pricey strategy, ensures workers are 鈥� in the words of SMD鈥檚 business development director Dan Williams 鈥� 鈥渇ully alert, refreshed and 100% fit for work鈥�. A commendable idea, although one hopes they haven鈥檛 spent the night before in the hotel bar. 

A style time forgot

We鈥檙e playing our part in a new show at the RIBA, home of the great and the good in British architecture. The exhibition at 66 Portland Place 鈥� called Pablo Bronstein: Conservatism, or The Long Reign of Pseudo-Georgian Architecture 鈥� showcases drawings by the British-Argentinian artist and focuses on buildings from the second half of the 20th century. It includes articles and adverts taken from 黑洞社区 between 1975 and 2002. Apparently there was a long-running discussion in our pages during that time on the pseudo-Georgian in British construction, but I must confess it rather passed me by. I鈥檓 more of a brutalist man, myself.

Architectural encore

This year鈥檚 Serpentine Pavilion, designed by Burkina Faso architect Di茅b茅do Francis K茅r茅, is to remain open to the public for an additional six weeks until 19 November, in response to 鈥減ublic demand鈥�. It鈥檚 the first time a pavilion has had its opening time extended in the annual structure鈥檚 history. According to Aecom, which has provided technical support to the last five pavilions, K茅r茅鈥檚 structure 鈥渞eflected the architect鈥檚 vision of community and connecting people together with nature, through the exposed canopy structure and the use of tactile traditional materials 鈥� steel, timber, concrete and polycarbonate鈥�. Whatever else it does, I feel it beats many of its predecessors, not least Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei鈥檚 bizarre 鈥渇loating lake鈥� effort in 2012. 

Training to be top

Last week saw the largest freight train ever to leave south Wales bound for London carrying 2,300 tonnes of limestone. Operated by DB Cargo UK, the train comprised 34 wagons and was 660m long. Sounds impressive, doesn鈥檛 it? But some research made our effort in the UK look a bit second-rate. In the US, freight trains can stretch up to 3.7km long. In Canada, they are even bigger, stretching to 4.2km. But the longest freight train of all was run by mining behemoth BHP Billiton. Carrying iron ore across Australia, it consisted of 682 wagons and ran to a whopping 7.3km in length. And it ran on time. Southern Rail, please take note.

Send any juicy industry gossip to hansom@ubm.com