Hansom

Swimming with rhinos

When Brit swimmer Adrian Moorhouse won his Olympic gold in 1988, the world was at his feet. Little can he have imagined that 17 years later, he would be running to the South Coast in a 7 ft rhino suit. Construction and property consultancy RLF sponsored a team of six, including Moorhouse, to run, swim and cycle from Marble Arch to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris last month. The team was required to run a relay to Dover, during which they took turns to wear the aforementioned 14 kg rhino costume for a total of about 15 miles each. They then swam the 22 miles across the channel, before cycling the final 180 miles to Paris. The intrepid team hopes to raise £20,000 for Save the Rhino – and they would appear to deserve it.

Vaughan to be wild

Beware of inviting Broadway Malyan director Peter Vaughan to your party. The man could turn up armed with a copy of the 1971 soul classic Funky Nassau. Vaughan hadn’t heard his favourite party record for years until a couple of weeks ago when he was at a bash hosted by Wayne Hemingway, the housebuilding industry’s favourite celeb designer. Leafing through the fashion maestro’s LP collection, Vaughan came across the record, which, as I’m sure you will recall, was by popular beat combo The Beginning of the End, and such was his enthusiasm for this lost masterpiece that Hemingway duly made a copy of it for him. You have been warned.

Parkies galore

Another CABE initiative is due to hit the streets in September. Apparently, the commission is planning a big push this autumn entitled “park force”, whereby people who work in parks will be called upon to become park rangers. The idea is to have someone there if anything goes wrong. Presumably there’ll be a permanent phalanx of them around Hyde Park’s Diana memorial, then …

House and home

What exactly is the name of the HBF? This august body has long been known as the House Builders Federation, but earlier this year, without warning, it appeared to change its name to the Home Builders Federation. I say “seemed” because we are still in some doubt. The HBF’s website has both names. Anybody?

Knock it when it’s down

So, the good news is that poor old Holyrood has made it on to a shortlist. The bad news is, it’s for the BBC’s new Demolition programme, which sets out to find the UK’s most unpopular structures, and then knocks them down. Given that the others are the odious Westgate centre in Newcastle, a cement works in Rugby and a Gateshead car park, it’s not a great compliment for RMJM and the late Enric Miralles. But

seeing as everyone enjoyed the construction process so much first time round, what better way to prolong the fun than by doing it all over again?

Better yet …

The latest on Brad Pitt, Frank Gehry and Brighton. Most people know that the heart-throb actor is keen to help the big-name architect to design part of the King Alfred Leisure Centre scheme, but were you aware that the BBC wants to get involved, too? Or that Mr Pitt’s production company has expressed an interest in doing a programme about architecture? The word at the moment is that the two could be about to join forces. In which case, why not a reality game show headed by Ms Jolie?

Journey into fear
Logistics firm Wilson James may not have chosen the wisest location for messing about on the water last weekend. The firm cajoled one of Building’s journalists into spending an afternoon racing around an Essex section of the Thames on a “zapcat” – a very small, very fast powerboat that seems to spend more time in the air than riding the waves. Despite her crash helmet and visor, my colleague was clinging to one of these vehicles like a terrified ocelot when she noticed a rather worrying sign. Apparently the area was bordered by MoD land that contained a large number of unexploded shells and mines. There’s such a thing as too much excitement, guys.