Say you’ll be there

More good news for Hillary

Amid the Barack Obama fever that swept Iowa last week, it emerged that the Democrat candidate has claimed he’d be an architect if he wasn’t a politician. Perhaps that is why a national group, Architects for Obama, is now inviting architects and designers to donate to show their support. A helpful website graphic shows the target amount against the amount raised – updated every five minutes so you can witness the mounting excitement. So far, $0 of the target has been raised from 0 people. Keep watching.

Candy-coated

Speculation has been rife about the reason behind luxury-flats-funded-by-Arabian-cash developer Candy & Candy’s purchase of the massive Grosvenor Waterside site. The deal – to buy 300 flats in the luxury west London development with housebuilder Berkeley Homes – was concluded for a rumoured £400-500m in October, which perhaps goes some way towards explaining why Berkeley’s recent results were better than expected. But why buy a site right next door to the Chelsea Barracks, another flagship development the Candy brothers scooped up last year? Are they trying to create a new luxury market – or just edge out all competitors from that part of town?

2 become 1

It is a well known fact that the construction industry is an appealing sector but it seems lately its attractiveness has jumped to a whole new level. I hear that sporty singer Mel C is spicing up the life of a partner at QS Rider Levett Bucknall. You wannabe a QS?

Excess baggage

British Airways really wants a new runway and terminal at Heathrow, it seems. I hear the airline asked masterplanner YRM to draw up a plan for Runway 3 and Terminal 6 as long ago as 1999 – a full five years before the government asked for them. Perhaps Terminal 5 just won’t be big enough for all that extra baggage, now that BA is allowing two pieces of hand luggage on board its planes again.

All fired up

The FA Cup final often disappoints, but insulation manufacturer Rockpool has organised an event that might just liven things up at Wembley stadium. It is running a “fire safe” event at the stadium at the end of January, where it will, presumably, demonstrate how well its products resist fire. One hopes that the fire brigade is on hand as Rockpool has boldly proposed concluding the day with a tour of the stadium.

Give me a break

After a pre-Christmas hearing over noise vibration issues at the Helter Skelter tower in the City, lawyers of insurance firm Hiscox and developer Arab Investments had to reach an agreement over when the next sets of evidence would be submitted. The representative for Hiscox, presumably

hoping for a stress-free break, thanked his fellow lawyer for agreeing to a lengthier deadline than originally proposed by joking he’d buy him a ticket to the opera – now there’s a win.

Toads of Toad Hall

Sources in Cheshire tell me fantasy writer Alan Garner has put his house into a trust so it won’t fall into the greasy hands of footballers and their wives. Garner, the author of mystic tale The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, wants to save medieval Toad Hall in leafy Alderley Edge from becoming a “trophy home”. The area is nicknamed Gold Trafford for its sporting links, and Man Utd defender Rio Ferdinand already lives there. Probably all for the best for those wags, as I hear that many of the locations in Garner’s spooky stories were taken from real life.