Construction industry gossip: Long months spent at conference…

Imagine

Back in September, the Labour party conference returned to Liverpool’s Royal Albert Docks, the old stomping ground of The Beatles. The party’s energy secretary Ed Miliband was in a somewhat pensive mood as he told attendees of a fringe event for Labour’s environment campaign that this was his 29th.

“If you spent four to five days at Labour party conference, it means I spent four months of my life here, which is quite something,” Miliband mused. To misquote John Lennon: “Life is what happens when you’re busy making conference plans.”

Tarzan’s comeback 

Speaking at the same event, Steve Rotheram, Liverpool city region’s mayor, related an exchange he had had with Lord Heseltine. The veteran Tory, tasked with leading Liverpool’s regeneration in the 1980s, had apparently told the media that Rotheram’s was the only job that would attract him back into frontline politics, prompting the mayor to text the former cabinet minister: “Hands off my job, Hezza.”

The response came back quickly. “I cannot foresee the circumstances in which I would be called upon to serve,” Heseltine told Rotheram, adding: “You might remember this was an assurance I gave to a certain lady.”

With his 68% majority, it is unlikely that Rotheram would be bested by any Tory,  but Heseltine would probably be top of his list if he had to choose one. After all, he told the crowd: “He brought Thatcher down, so he’s not all bad.”

Heseltine had apparently told the media that Rotheram’s was the only job that would attract him back into politics, prompting the mayor to text the former cabinet minister: ‘Hands off my job, Hezza’

Bouquets and brickbats

Readers of Building may have seen the stir caused by Chris Williamson’s defence of architectural competitions on LinkedIn last month, which resulted in the RIBA president-elect being barraged with responses of a decidedly mixed nature from some well known architects.

Competitions have become a sore point in the architectural world, seen by many as exploitative and badly run, which explains why the post’s comment section became unusually heated.

“I think people like a bit of honesty,” Williamson told our sister title Building Design when tempers had calmed down. Maybe some LinkedIn usage should come with a warning: get a second pair of eyes before posting your hot takes on sensitive issues…

Out of joint

So much has been written about the heritage harm which would have been caused to Liverpool Street station by Herzog & de Meuron’s initial redevelopment proposals. The irony is that the parts of the station which would be affected are mostly not Victorian but were built in the 1980s in a style so faithful to the older parts that it’s hard to tell the difference. In fact, even the heritage groups appear to be unclear on the distinction.

My hack was told of clashes during consultations on Network Rail’s new scheme, when the 20th Century Society accused the Victorian Society of invading its turf by campaigning for the wrong century.

Out smarted

One of my lucky hacks was shown around Liverpool Street station recently by Network Rail’s group property director Robin Dobson and Friedrich Ludewig, the founder of Acme, the practice which has taken over from Herzog & de Meuron. As spectacular as the building and its cathedral-like train shed are, I’m told it was rivalled by Ludewig’s unusual garb.

Not only was the architect wearing shiny gold shoes, but he was clad in what seemed to be a floor-length, fake-fur coat which had been turned inside out. Architect and former RIBA president George Ferguson’s famous red trousers rather pale in comparison.