January 22, 2014
Land Securities to submit application for solution to Walkie Talkie solar glare problem
Land Securities has confirmed it will submit a planning application next month for the solution to the solar glare problem at the ‘Walkie Talkie.’ Last year the skyscraper at 20 Fenchurch EC3 was dubbed the ‘Walkie Scorchie’, after it was found its unusual design was reflecting and magnifying the sun’s rays, which were melting parts of vehicles parked in nearby streets. According to the developer, despite its problems, the building is now 64 per cent pre-let, with a further 23 per cent in solicitors’ hands, and just 42,700 sq feet of space remaining. Land Securities has also announced, that due to increased demand for London office space it is to launch two new central London developments. More →
January 20, 2014
Blue Monday hype obscures the real debate about workplace happiness
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace, Workplace design
So here it is. Blue Monday. Officially the most depressing day of the year. We say ‘officially’, but like the idea of ‘Body Odour’ its common usage hides the fact that it was originally created as part of a 2005 PR campaign. For Sky’s travel channel. The whole idea of Blue Monday is couched in a pseudo-mathematical equation which includes factors like the weather, levels of debt, time since Christmas, low levels of motivation and, apparently, an unspecified variable known simply as ‘D’. Now, of course, none of this is either easy to define or measure and while we mock the idea, it’s not so far removed from Prime Minister David Cameron’s attempts to measure ‘happiness’ as an alternative to GDP.
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