Hansom

Dancing in the streets
I've been told to pencil "Bond Night" into my diary for 10 June. This is not, as some of my colleagues have suggested, dinner for two with Andrew Bond, chief spinmeister at Bovis. Rather, the swanky London street of that name is to play host to a public street party on that night. With luxury retailers such as Gucci and Prada selling their wares in the manor, we can expect caviar for canapés, and champers rather than Chardonnay to swill it down. But leaving the entertainment in the hands of Bond Street's resident construction consultant Ridge might not prove to be such a wise move. The firm's in-house rock band will apparently be thrashing out some rocking riffs from the pavement outside its office. Get on down, pop-pickers.

Between rats and sinking ships
I hear reports that one of the candidates for the leadership of construction workers' union UCATT, Michael Dooley, has taken on some outside assistance to boost his campaign. But rather than employing a pollster or campaign manager, Dooley has decided that the long road to victory starts with touring London in the company of a 10-foot giant rat. Apparently, the reason is that Dooley intends to "kick the rats out of the building industry and clean up building sites, making them safe for workers". But has he explained this to his new friend?

Classy knoll
It is becoming a tradition at some architectural practices to celebrate a lucrative project win or the completion of a challenging design by taking the entire practice on a jolly to the seaside for a few days of R&R. But Foster and Partners is once again pushing the boundaries by taking the beach trip concept one stage further. With admirable forethought, the practice is designing an entire resort, The Knolls in Singapore for hotelier Robert Burns. Now that's one completion party yours truly would gladly turn out for.

Get your CV on the A-Z
When a building or street is named after an individual, it usually means the local burghers want to honour one of their own. Inspired by this, Gleeson Homes has given one of its long-serving site managers a little piece of immortality by naming a block of apartments after him at its Netherne-on-the-Hill scheme in Coulsdon, Surrey. Senior site manager Tony Quick has lent his name, albeit slightly more formally, to Anthony House. I hope he still gets his carriage clock.