Hansom super-size this

Water, water everywhere

Rumours reach me that consultant PwC has had to delay its occupancy of Mace’s prestigious More London project following a flood of the building earlier in the summer. The structure is the last to be finished on the scheme, which overlooks Ken Livingstone’s Foster-designed glass testicle across the river from the Tower of London.

Apparently, the fault lay with a burst water main following mains replacement works in the area by Thames Water, but had the result of destroying all the new substation plant and machinery in the basement. Hence completion for fit-out will have to wait until early next year – four months later than planned. Still, you can’t hold back the tide …

Appetite for architects

What we wouldn’t give for a peek at Will Alsop’s diary. Now that the maverick architect™ has left the employ of Archial, his services are much in demand. According to those in the know, Alsop is being lunched by the great and good of the design world, from former Rogers director Marco Goldschmied to, we hear, the folk at RMJM. We know that Alsop is partial to a good lunch, so these must be salad days for him, metaphorically speaking. But given that rumours of a joint venture between RMJM and Frank Gehry have been doing the rounds, can it be long before we see a whole host of down-at-heel starchitects picked up by RMJM and its US parent Hillier?

Something for the weekend?

I hope my contractor readers made the most of this last bank holiday, as those working in the health sector are facing rather a manic weekend, if the government’s ProCure21 website is to be believed. According to the site’s timeline, all pre-qualification questionnaires for the new ProCure21+ hospital framework must be submitted on 6 September. Eagle-eyed readers will note that this happens to be a Sunday. Spare a thought for those spending their first weekend back after the summer holidays slaving over complex bid documents …

Mobile homes

While on the site of Willmott Dixon’s John Perryn School (page 46), we heard of a startling technological advance from project manager Steve Harnett. The contractor has managed to make cladding material out of recycled mobile phones. While this isn’t an entirely new idea – White Design made a desk out of recycled phones in its New Forest visitor centre, we recall – it’s the first we’ve heard of a building material made of mobiles. While Willmott Dixon is apparently still to find a home for its prototype, we invite readers to come up with a name for the new product. Voda-foam, Stony Ericsson and Blockia are the best we could come up with, but we’re sure you can do better.

Don’t call me FAT

More on amusing potential merger names (see Hansoms passim). The thirsty Mark Bevan of the Graves Partnership is positively slavering at a potential link-up between architect Bjarke Ingels Group and Gardiner & Theobald. “How about a BIG G&T?” he writes. Don’t mind if we do, thanks. Meanwhile, an anonymous scribe, noting Lord Foster’s substantial salary revealed in last week’s magazine, suggested a merger between that architect and Fashion Architecture Taste. “FAT Foster + Partners seems appropriate,” he writes. Keep them coming, folks.

Cracking America

Currie & Brown chief executive Euan McEwan has been spending so much time in the good old US of A recently that chins have started to wag. Could the Glaswegian be considering a permanent move across the pond? Despite this question floating around certain industry circles, the firm’s spokesperson assures me there is no such plan – Euan his just been spending a lot of time “going back and forth” to help expand the global business, he says. Still, the bright lights of America could win him over yet. They have certainly proved too much temptation for our own architectural correspondent, Dan Stewart, who left us this week to head for pastures new in New York.