Construction industry gossip: Kicking and screaming

Lost for words

A while ago LinkedIn added to its set of “reactions” so networked professionals had more ways to express themselves ranging from “support” and “celebrate” to “funny” and “insightful” – lest we fatigued ourselves using too many words. So a colleague of mine was delighted to stumble across a post this month by David Mosey, law professor and author of Constructing the Gold Standard. His update revealed an upcoming sabbatical to support his Gold Standard work and less expectedly to make music with his band The Specs. A Google search found a Mosey music video called Lockdown (What It Takes Is a Lot of Cakes). Curious? I feel a LinkedIn reaction coming on.

Takes some bottle

Guests at this year’s British Council for Offices conference in Manchester were treated to a big night out in the city’s trendy Hatch venue, with free food, drinks and entertainment. No such joy for the journos, though, who were not invited to the bash – a point underlined, literally, on their lanyards, which sported the welcoming words: “NO PARTY”. The exclusion was put down to capacity issues, but one bold scribe nonetheless made a daring attempt to slip in under an assumed name. No luck.

The room had a very thick masonry wall running down the middle, meaning that half of the guests were unable to see the prize being awarded

The Battersea Experience

A trip to Battersea power station and there’s a definite bustle about the bits which are open – the side that sits on the river, basically. Mace’s construction chief executive, Gareth Lewis, is very proud of the work his team has carried out there. So it was fitting, really, that as Lewis and my hack had a stroll around the site, a passer-by made a beeline for the man in charge of building work at the power station itself to enquire when it would all open. He was given an expert explanation. A job as a tour guide awaits Lewis when he decides to hang up his hard hat.

A bit Uber the top

My hack can vouch that security is tip-top at Aecom’s main office in London. He says it took a good 15 minutes to get his bike parked up in the bowels of Aldgate Tower. I’m told the building’s security team are a little jumpy because London’s favourite taxi alternative, Uber, is based there and is regularly picketed by our black-cab friends.

Why not tackle the two?

Leeds College of Building has launched a course combining a BTEC Level 2 Certificate in Construction & the Built Environment and a Level 1 Award in Football Coaching. “It aims to provide a broad understanding of the construction industry, while giving students the freedom to play football every Wednesday,” says the college’s student liaison officer, Denis Metcalf. “Sounds perfect,” mutters one exasperated colleague, “especially for my football-crazed son who is showing no interest whatsoever in school at the moment.”

Hell is other people

Last month I sent one of my scribes along to the Davidson Awards, where architect teams were competing for a £10,000 prize for conceptual designs with the theme of “co-living”. Whoever booked the venue in north London seemed not to have got the memo, however. The room had a very thick masonry wall running down the middle, meaning that half of the guests were unable to see the prize being awarded. But amid murmurs of discontent from the audience at this obstruction, it occurred to my hack that this could be a stroke of genius. From his experience with co-living, he told me, the more walls the better.