Hansom: Darling, you were fabulous

Bridges and their connections

Joanna Lumley was working as an associate at Heatherwick Studios at the time the practice was bidding to design what has become known as the Garden Bridge, it has emerged. According to bid documents seen by Building, the Ab Fab actress had worked with Heatherwick Studio for more than a decade and was involved with the strategic development of several of the studio’s public projects in London. Lumley’s lobbying of City Hall - and of Boris Johnson directly in a 2012 letter shortly after he was re-elected mayor of London - has been well-publicised, but the extent of her work at Heatherwick Studios has only now become apparent. Heatherwick saw off competition from two other practices in a Transport for London tender to design the bridge. The Liberal Democrats at City Hall have called for an investigation into the procurement in light of Lumley’s “close connections to both the mayor and the winning designer”, though no impropriety has been alleged. The Garden Bridge Trust said Lumley had never been paid for her involvement with Heatherwick and her role as associate was to reflect that the “original idea for the Garden Bridge was hers”.

Tour de force

Over the weekend Willmott Dixon’s group chief executive Rick Willmott led a team of divisional chief execs and MDs to complete the 180km Cyclotour du Leman, cycling around Lake Geneva. Their exploits have so far raised £32k
for former health and safety inspector colleague Steve Thomason, who was paralysed last year in an road traffic accident. The 180km distance is like riding from London to Birmingham in a day, so serious stuff. Taking the honours for finishing first was northern MD Anthony Dillon at 6hrs 15mins, with Rick Willmott and Regen chief executive Andrew Telfer coming in just afterwards at 6hrs 20mins, closely followed by the chasing pack of MDs and chief operating officers. The firm has pledged to match the amount raised. Of the total, half will go to Stoke Mandeville Trust spinal unit, with the other half going to pay for specialist equipment for Steve.

Mind the gap

Class of Your Own (COYO), the provider of accredited learning programmes for the built environment, is bringing together education and industry leaders to address the growing skills gap in the UK. Working closely with the RICS and other professional bodies, COYO is holding simultaneous events across the UK which will see industry executives and head teachers discuss how to raise awareness of careers in construction, engineering, architecture, surveying and property. Alison Watson, managing director of COYO, said: “The skills gap is something each and every business in the built environment up and down the UK has a responsibility to tackle. Schools require a lot more focused support than we as an industry are currently providing.”

Improve your self image

PR guru Leanne Tritton was dispensing free advice to architects during Clerkenwell Design Week. She picked on a few practices to show how important it is to be creative in one’s approach to marketing. She suggested Joe Morris of Duggan Morris get himself on Strictly Come Dancing to promote architecture to the masses - and included a mocked-up slide of the architect suitably dressed for some cha-cha-cha. Then she rebranded Farrells using the power of Terry Farrell’s eyebrows alone. I was particularly taken by her notion that Sir Terry’s most famous creation, the MI6 building, could be physically adapted to reflect the new branding.