Last week, office workers at International Quarter London were sent hurtling down the world’s longest tunnel slide – all in the name of science.
Staff started their day with a ride down the ArcelorMittal Orbit in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park as part of a University of Essex experiment to show how a rush of adrenaline improves wellbeing and productivity at work.
International Quarter London project director Andrew Tobin, said: “We’re not saying ride the slide every day, more that giving staff easy access to the sporting and leisure facilities of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park can only impact positively on a company’s productivity, its staff retention and, ultimately, its bottom line.”
Diary has had the pleasure of riding ArcelorMittal Orbit and loved it. We would go further than Tobin and say doing it every day would be a huge boost. Any chance of a built-in tunnel slide when EG moves to its new 99 Bishopsgate HQ next year?
A banging time in Croydon
Word reaches us that this year’s Croydon Business Excellence Awards was somewhat more explosive than one might expect.
Richard Plant, head of SHW’s Croydon office (and chair of Develop Croydon) was on the way to join the mayor of Croydon and various other dignitaries at the prestigious event at the Grand Sapphire building in Imperial Way when he found police blocking the road and people in dinner jackets piling into the nearby Hilton instead.
Apparently, an unexploded bomb had been discovered in the area, close to the old Croydon Airport, which was a key target during World War II.
After an hour’s hold-up, the awards guests trooped back in and the rest of the evening went without incident… until exploding ticker tape was launched at the grand finale. Cue a few near-heart attacks among the startled crowd.
What’s the story? SW2 glory
Urban redevelopment always brings unexpected challenges – frequently architectural, sometimes animal and, as in the case of the recent redevelopment of Lambeth town hall, occasionally musical.
The mixed-use project in the heart of Brixton (officially reopened last month) posed all the usual tests of projects of this kind, especially in marrying the needs of residents, businesses and workers. But there was an additional one too.
In the heart of the project – and the construction site – sits The Fridge nightclub whose stage has hosted everyone from The Clash and New Order to Soul II Soul and Rudimental.
It remained open for the duration of the project. Richard Dobson of scheme contractor Morgan Sindall recalls many unusual evenings.
“There was one where Noel Gallagher’s tour bus turned up to access the back of The Fridge and we were trying to conflict that with a concrete pour that was going on on the site. We were trying to work out who took priority. I think Noel Gallagher won that day.”
As some might say, when it comes to regeneration, you just have to roll with it.
It never rains but it pours…
As you may be aware, it has been something of a bad year for retail.
It might seem to some as if the sky is falling – but no, that’s just the rain leaking through the roof. Specifically, the roof at intu’s Broadmarsh Centre in Nottingham.
The centre was, once upon a time, a regular haunt of a young Diary. Nostalgia & Comics on the top floor, those were the days.
Sadly, the centre was looking a little past its best last time we were there – and now we see in the local press that, during the recent downpours, “water dripped down from above” in various locations.
But all credit to Nigel Wheatley, general manager, for keeping calm and carrying on: “The safety of our visitors, our staff and retailers’ employees is a number one priority and the water collection buckets are there to highlight the safe walking routes for all.”
It’s not just anyone who can put such a positive spin on “water collection buckets”.
Having a ball
The Leisure Property Forum’s annual gathering last week, held at Bounce in Farringdon, EC1, took the steadily rising leisure trend of competitive socialising to the max – pitting landlords, agents and occupiers against each other in a spirited ping-pong tournament.
After several rounds of games and drinks alike, CS2 Chartered Surveyors triumphed against Lyndon Yeomans in the final.
Despite the friendly atmosphere, the true after-effect on client relationships, from what turned out to be a fiercely competitive evening, remains to be seen…
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