New brooms

The new government seems intent on revolutionising the landscape for architects. Garden grabbing we’ve already talked about. The Regional Spatial Strategies are to go we understand. Home Information Packs have already gone (along with all the poor souls who retrained to compile them) and now we hear from Lord Young that much Health & Safety legislation is to be replaced by lavish application of good old common sense.

Garden Grabbing

The house behind my own (Best Revenge) is actually a bungalow, a dormer bungalow to be exact. It is a perfectly nice house, sorry bungalow, but by no means lavish. In fact a family larger than the married couple and cat that currently occupy it, might possibly refer to it as modest.

In search of lost youth

The photograph shows what can happen when grown men are allowed out to play unsupervised. By day, upstanding pillars of the local community: sober, hardworking, diligent.  But on Wednesday evenings….

An unexpected visitor from Geneva

Having talked about the visit of the Bishop of Wakefield, I’m reminded of a very different visitor we had a few weeks ago. Thursday evenings are go out for a jog time at One 17. If you’re anywhere near the office between 5.45 and 7.15 you may encounter a very mixed bunch in various states of collapse making their way round the highways and byways of Armitage Bridge, Beaumont Park, South Crosland and parts in between. We are invariably led by Paul Dallas, a man far too fit for his age, who spends a big part of his time turning people on to the joys of physical activity. But I digress.

New Faces and Old Faces 4

New faces and old faces 4: One 17 SD, our engineering consultancy, has a new face: Chris Wilson. No relation to Lisa (or at least, not that either is aware of) Chris was nearly lost to the world of engineering when he flirted with the idea of joining the Marines. As you might expect, Chris is a bit of a sports fiend and fitness fanatic. He demonstrated this by turning up for his first day with us sporting a heavily bandaged left hand. Thankfully it did not impair his ability to drive his computer.

New Faces and Old Faces 3

New faces and old faces 3: One 17 has, for many years, tried to give work experience to as many students as possible within the limits of a busy, medium-sized office. Consequently quite a few faces have passed through the doors and many, despite our best efforts to put them off, have gone on to make architecture and design their careers. Several are kind enough to write us thank you notes and we have amassed quite a collection.

New Faces and Old Faces 2

New faces and old faces 2: the last couple of months has seen quite a few changes in personnel at One 17. In April, Jane, our long-serving accounts lady decided she had reached the stage where her husband and garden held more attraction than arguing with our bank, and she retired.

New Faces and Old Faces 1

New faces and old faces 1: out of the blue last week some old faces called in to see us. Jonathan and Kendra Ashton worked with us many years ago. Jonathan was a local guy who went through university and qualified as an architect whilst in the office. His wife, Kendra, is an architect from Cuba, and she joined us for a few years just before Jonathan finished his studies. Then, the call of the capital got to them, and they went off to seek their fortunes in London.

The Pond Part 3

The Pond Part 3: So there we are with a pond devoid of water and fish. Just a big hole then? Well, no. What we had was a big hole with about two feet of thick, rich silt at the bottom. Well, we could have taken the decision just to forget it and refill the pond, but we’re in the business of making things, and places, better whenever we can. This was an opportunity not to be missed!

The Pond Part 2

The Pond Part 2: A pond that would soon contain no water gave rise to another problem: our resident fish population. The poor little blighters were struggling manfully in a rapidly decreasing pool, but there would clearly soon come a point when fish would exceed water.

The Bishop of Wakefield at One17

The pond has not been the only thing occupying us this spring. One of the more unusual, but by no means unpleasant, events was a visit from the Bishop of Wakefield. Partner Stuart Beaumont, who looks after a portfolio of local churches amongst his other work, meets the Bishop from time to time at diocesan functions. However, it was the minister of our local church who asked if she could bring along the Bishop to have a look at our offices.