Top marks to Savills’ resi analyst Paul Wellman (formerly of this parish) for identifying just what it is that is so appealing about Transport for London’s development plans for above Southwark Tube station.
Sharp-eyed as he always was, Wellman tweeted: “Big fan of this eco-friendly CLT built office scheme proposed by TfL above Southwark Tube station. But mainly because the facade is made up of the Tube’s colour palette.”
Nice touch – going Underground to inspire the overground. But not everyone is happy – not least those fans of Tube lines that didn’t make the cut. “Why do they hate the Northern Line?” came one response. “Not to mention the Jubilee, the only line that station is on!” spotted another. Too late to tweak the design?
Spotted in the tea room
It has been quite the week for housing secretary Robert Jenrick. Following his admission of “apparent bias” in his approval of Richard Desmond’s £1bn Westferry Printworks last month, Labour MPs demanded Jenrick explain his interactions with the media tycoon, lodging urgent questions for him in the Commons. Outrage ensued when he skipped the session, with newly appointed housing minister Chris Pincher sent to fend off the opposition. Jenrick was later reportedly spotted lurking in the tea room. Perhaps no accident then that while Jenrick slurped on his Earl Grey, Pincher let slip that the contentious £12,000 donation from Desmond was actually the price for a ticket to the Tory fundraiser he attended last November, leading to an onslaught of fresh interrogation for his boss. More trouble in the tea leaves?
A hole new world
London never stands still. So it’s inevitable that, as many return to their places of work after a few months away, they are going to notice some changes. Example: lockdown has not stopped Landsec’s progress with the last piece of its Nova scheme, Nova East. One eagle-eyed EG reader, recently back in the office, was so impressed with the size of the hole that had been dug that they decided to send us this pic.
Landsec, meanwhile, submitted further amendments to the 14-storey office scheme in April, which include rejigging the basement of Nova East and moving the ground-floor retail from the north to the south of the building. If you have a big hole you want to share – or any other pictorial evidence of new development – please do get in touch via diary@egi.co.uk.
Hope they’ve got a big Allen key
Diary couldn’t help but be amused by our exclusive reveal that Ikea is planning its first UK housing development – a 700-home residential scheme next to its flagship store in Enfield, N18 – mainly because completion isn’t due until 2028. “They are expecting to spend seven years building the homes – must be all those pieces,” quipped our resi reporter. Hilarity, naturally, ensued on Twitter. “More likely the queue at the checkout.” “Or the meatballs. So many distractions on your doorstep.” But it sounds like Properganda co-founder Russell Quirk has had painful experiences. “Seven years is just what it takes to put together one of their wardrobes, let alone a whole housing estate,” he replied. “Should we expect wobbly foundations, dodgy gaps and pieces left over when finished?” Diary is left imagining the poor builder with the Ikea instructions trying to make sense of a whole housing development…
Retail of the unexpected
Diary is a bit too cautious to be joining the throngs lining up to get into Primark, but we have enjoyed some of the tales of retail’s return. Like the live BBC coverage of a shopping park reopening in Cheshire Oaks where the security guard couldn’t find the right key for the gate. The man who put his favourite watch in for repair the day before lockdown, and had to wait to pick it up. And the reassuring news that Selfridge’s is still uniquely placed to make shopping an “experience”, with a host at the front door giving everyone a cheery “welcome back”, a DJ blaring out music inside and even the plastic counter screens looking “welcoming”, according to journalist Gemma Goldfingle. But one of our favourite Twitter accounts, @WHS_Carpet, took a different approach to the big day, asking its many followers: What’s the worst shopping centre in the UK? Predictably for Diary, Nottingham’s Broadmarsh Centre quickly made the list, though we were sad to hear that the Wellington Centre and the Galleries in Aldershot (a regular haunt, 2000-2003) is now “a local white elephant”. From the flood of responses, it seems that every town in Britain has a terrible shopping centre, but easily the best review is: “Burns Shopping Mall in Kilmarnock makes Mos Eisley look classy.” It almost makes us want to come out of self-imposed exile and find out why. Almost.
As if by magic…
Ah, Mr Benn. Pinstripe suit, bowler hat and a life of adventure. Who, of a certain age, didn’t envy his experiences? In each episode of the early 1970s children’s TV series our hero would visit the same fancy dress shop, try on an outfit and leave the shop through a magic door, entering a world suiting his costume. His adventure would only come to an end when the moustachioed, fez-sporting shopkeeper appeared. Well Mr Benn never went away – or at least his memory lives on through Twitter. With retail lockdown easing this week @RealMrBenn has some sound advice: “It must be very difficult to be a shopkeeper just now. I know lots of them are worried about the future. Please support them when you can. Shops are fabulous.” Wise words from someone who knows. And nice of him to return the favour after all these years. You can imagine the worried, locked-down shopkeeper breaking into a smile of relief as the voiceover sounds: “And then Mr Benn appeared…”
