A (lukewarm) meal with a view
My hack was recently in Plymouth, to check out the city after its nomination for UK Design Capital of the Year. While there, the council showed him around Civic Centre – a long-empty, post-war tower and former municipal building set to be turned into apartments. The redevelopment will see the building’s rooftop returned to some kind of commercial use, most likely a restaurant. In that case, it will be aiming to do a little better than its predecessor.
When it was first opened in the 1960s by the Queen and Prince Philip, people queued around the block for a seat. Unfortunately, the kitchen was at the bottom of the 14-storey tower, with food winched up via dumb waiter. “Its popularity quickly diminished,” my journo was told.
But visitors could at least enjoy dinner and a show, if one council employee is to be believed. He told my hack that, back when he was a private contractor, the council would take him to the top floors for meetings, where they would watch the Navy running war games out in the Sound.
Explosive encounters
War has been more than just a game at points in Plymouth’s history, with much of the city destroyed in its very own blitz during WWII. Despite the passage of 80 years, this historical event is still causing headaches for the city. Three unexploded ordanances have been found in just the past two years, my hack was told. “Better leave the groundworks to Homes England,” he joked with a smug grin that was wiped off his face when informed that one of the ordanances was discovered under his hotel for the night.
Security matters
Much of the challenge for Plymouth’s planned regeneration will be in trying to ensure that the £4.4bn investment in the facilities at Devonport spill over into the rest of the city. There has long been a pretty hard perimeter, both figuratively and literally, around western Europe’s biggest naval base – something one important visitor apparently found out recently. My hack heard a rumour that a government minister had to admire the facility from the top of a tall building outside the port after forgetting to bring ID.
Chris Williamson did his World Cup final four predictions – England, Argentina, France and Spain – and he got all of them right
President and correct
Can Chris Williamson do my lottery numbers next week? The RIBA president and Weston Williamson co-founder said that the firm has been running a World Cup predictions competition for 40 years. Except they didn’t do it this time, for some reason. Anyway, Williamson says he duly made his final four teams prediction: England, Argentian, France, Spain. He got them all right. “It would have been the first time I – or anyone else for that matter – has won,” he lamented.
Hot stuff
During the country’s third or fourth heatwave – she forgets which – a colleague found her attention hijacked by a press release from a kitchen appliance brand boasting of its Tour de France TV campaign in July. BORA, purveyors of induction hobs, has apparently sponsored professional cyclists since 2015 and has upped its game a notch to become an advertising player during the commercial breaks of the three-week bike race across France. I salute the ambition: nothing says “buy our extractor fan” quite like men in Lycra sweating their way up a mountain.
Sign of the times
My holidaying hack appears to have uncovered Scotland’s toughest traffic enforcer. Partially obscured by ferns along a coastal single-track road was this delightfully direct sign. No speed cameras, just a firm reminder: “Noo jist haud oan – SLOW DOON”. Local sources, entirely unverified, say that it is 100% effective. Could it ever translate for use on the South Circular? Might at least put Londoners in a better mood as they crawl along in bumper-to-bumper traffic…
Send any juicy industry gossip to Mr Joseph Aloysius Hansom, who founded Building in 1843, at hansom@building.co.uk
