Nothing says Winter Wonderland like a bitterly cold, bright London day, mulled wine and a spot of ice sculpting. And nothing says Christmas like eating too much, temper tantrums, and some pantomime drama. The inaugural Estates Gazette Christmas event for Land Aid is a mix of the two.
Some 21 budding ice sculptors arrive at our North Pole-inspired ice palace thanks to Pollard Thomas Edwards architects for an afternoon of competitive chiselling, carving and shaping, not quite sure what to expect.
The tone of the event is soon set – by eight giant ice stilettos, or glass slippers in keeping with the pantomime theme, waiting to be customised.
It’s down to the teams to personalise their shoe, add detail, shape the decoration on the front and, most importantly, shave the heel down to the perfect point – without losing it altogether. The DTZ team, the only one made up entirely of men, scan the sculptures, bemused.
Make Architect’s Ken Shuttleworth is even more perturbed. “These are all shoes,” he says. “I wanted to carve a building. How am I going to do that out of a shoe?” No sooner has he uttered the words than a plan begins to form: “I could use the heel. I could create a building out of the heel” The sentence is left hanging as he darts off to check some vital measurements.
The teams are raring to go, but, as “there’s always one” the competition is delayed while Estates Gazette editor Damian Wild rushes off to buy an emergency pair of gloves.
Before the teams are let loose, master ice sculptor Percy Salazar-Diaz does a quick masterclass. Just 10 minutes with a saw and a chisel and he has created the perfect ice shoe and the guide for what the teams are aiming to achieve.
Mike Slade is caught trying to sneak a head start – quietly chiselling during the presentation – and is promptly reprimanded.
Five minutes later and they’re all off – Percy’s attempts to suggest the safest way to use a chisel falling on deaf ears: “How come we don’t get a saw?” asks Assembly’s Matt, looking over at the (deliberately) solitary jagged blade resting on Percy’s table.
“Yeah – I want a saw too,” says Ken from behind the extra ice sculpture which he has shotgunned and for which he now has grand plans. Sawing is allowed says Percy, with supervision. Ken’s up first, rasping away with vigour as huge chunks of his (former) shoe break away. Looking on, Percy can only grimace before saying: “He needs to be really careful of his fingers.” The sawing improves and all digits remain intact.
Meanwhile, the Helical Bar team is powering ahead. Without wanting to appear sexist, having two women on board is probably an advantage, as whispers of heart decorations and Louboutins drift over from their workstation. But Mr Slade insists that he is just as much in the know. “I have a pair of crocodile stilettos at home. I wear them on Sundays.”
In true “you have to watch the quiet ones” style, Jones Lang La Salle is making excellent progress. It is one of two teams, along with the guys from host team Pollard Thomas Edwards architects, to have made any real progress on the heel – bravely chipping away with impressive skill. It’s a risky manoeuvre as it compromises the stability of the structure, but what’s a stiletto without a killer heel? “We are going to see how thin we can go,” says Michael. Brinkmanship at its icy best.
Halfway through the competition and there are some clear frontrunners emerging which makes it the perfect moment to announce the twist – every team must move on to the stiletto of the team to their right, and this will become the shoe they are judged on. Indignation and much stropping ensues from almost everyone.
Ken Shuttleworth is the only one allowed to stick with his original non-shoe sculpture and a building soon named “the Wisdom Tooth” is emerging among the ice chippings. His colleagues, working on the new “official” Make shoe are also doing well despite the recent move – the only team to take the chisel to the shape of the sculpture with any real gumption.
With 10 minutes to go, there is some last-minute perfecting before the inevitable happens we lose one. It had to go horribly wrong for one team and as the Estates Gazette trio survey the damage of their now heel-less shoe, Percy comes to the rescue with a chisel to prop under as a makeshift support. Who is to blame? No words needed as Chris and Damian both look over at Noella, still cowering in the corner with her hands over her mouth – bit of a giveaway.
Five minutes left and judges Joanna Averley, chief executive of Land Aid, and Sam Bompas. of Bompas & Parr, have joined Percy ready to survey the finished sculptures to pick a winner and a loser. By the time the mulled wine has arrived, time is up. The efforts are varied. EG‘s shoe has been artfully adorned with a pair of gloves but the judges suspect their presence is more of a distraction than a decoration. “It’s not very pretty,” says Percy. “But I like the effort.” DTZ is up next and receives far more positive comments and things improve from there. Ken’s wisdom tooth is praised for originality, the Make shoe for elegance, Assembly’s for an ingenious logo decoration, Jones Lang LaSalle’s for shape, and the Helical Bar team mastered the feminine touch with its heart-adorned icy footwear.
Last but not least, it’s on to PTEa’s elephant, complete with button eyes and paperclip tusks. “I really like this,” laughs Joanna.
The judges huddle. It is rather quickly decided that the EG team has come last. It is unanimous. When it comes to the winner it’s a little less clear-cut. “One of the ones in the middle,” says Joanna somewhat vaguely – though it’s true that the glove-covered and elephant sculptures make memorable bookends to several rather more conventional sculptures.
But after as much deliberation as the cold will allow, a verdict is reached.
“For sheer elegance and a glorious form…,” says Sam in his floor length beaver-fur overcoat, “the winning stiletto is team Make’s!” Much applauding and congratulating ensues as the victors accept their winnings. By now the light has completely gone and the outside temperature is giving the blocks of ice a run for their money so a brief winner’s interview is followed by an ever briefer interview with our own EG losers and the 2012 ice sculpting teams make a run for it in pursuit of the greatest prize of all – warmth!
Thanks to all our participants, judges and sponsors for braving the arctic conditions and we hope to see you all next year – perhaps with more layers.
THE TEAMS
Assembly: Matt Fairman, Richard Conner, Jessica Hellin
DTZ: Colin Wilson, Andrew Jones, Michael Hatt
Estates Gazette: Damian Wild, Noella Pio Kivlehan, Chris Gardner
Helical Bar: Mike Slade, Lois Robertson, Nikki Borein
Jones Lang LaSalle: Stephen Headley, Michael Hancock, Laura Jockers
Make Architects: Ken Shuttleworth, James Redman, Beth Johnson
Pollard Thomas Edwards architects: Tom Dollard, Kaye Stout, Carl Vann
THE JUDGES
Joanna Averley, chief executive, Land Aid
Sam Bompas, co-founder, Bompas & Parr
Percy Salazar-Diaz, managing director, PSD Ice Art
Celebrating LandAid at Christmas
As Christmas approaches it’s a time to reflect on all the amazing and ingenious ways in which the property industry has been supporting young people who haven’t always had the best start in life, or have suffered from a lack of opportunity. LandAid has been the focus of much of this giving and commitment. Whether you donated money corporately or individually, gave or won a raffle prize, ran 5km on the flat or up 36 floors of the Heron Tower, sold your model air kit, rampaged around the City in a silly outfit or volunteered your time and expertise, it has all made a difference.
The vital work that LandAid’s charity partners do can also be joyful and fun at Christmas. Here are a few examples: The Spotlight Youth Centre in Poplar which received £90,000 from LandAid matched by British Land and Canary Wharf Group had a giant mechanical polar bear, fire acrobatics and free Christmas rickshaw rides at this year’s Christmas Chrisp Street Market while Stepney Banks Stables in Newcastle Upon Tyne are having a party using the occasion to present their annual awards and celebrate the achievements of children and young people over the past year.
“We’re extremely grateful for the support our donors and sponsors provide, and we’re also very appreciative of the time and energy LandAid-supported projects provide to young people across the UK at a time when it’s most needed,” said Joanna Averley, CEO of LandAid. Wishing all our supporters and charity partners a safe and merry Christmas. To donate, please visit www.landaid.org/give
Thank you…
Huge thanks go to Pollard Thomas Edwards architects for the use of its premises as a winter wonderland venue and for the much-needed mulled wine, Domino’s Pizza for the food and soft drinks, Inflate for the igloo-style air roof, Artemide for the lighting and Peachy Productions for the uplighters.
