THING OF THE WEEK
VERY SCOUSE SITE VISIT… The prize for the site office with the best view has to go to developer Primesite, for its office-to-resi conversion on the Liverpool waterfront. On a tour of the project, Place thought being faced by the Three Graces, Mann Island, and Pier Head was about as truly Scouse as it was possible to get… Until being introduced to Primesite’s managing director Bobbie Johnson was interrupted by a loud honking from a passing Magical Mystery Tour bus. After waving enthusiastically at the driver, Bobbie explained: “That’s my uncle! He used to work for the bands down at The Cavern Club back in the 60s. Now he drives a tour bus.” Only in Liverpool.
Chester, not as serene as you might think…
ROMAN HOLIDAY… Cheshire wasn’t always such a gentle place. Using a new augmented reality app, visitors to Chester’s ampitheatre can now time-travel to experience gruesome reconstructions of Roman life and battle. Delivered by Marketing Cheshire and funded by the £40m Discover England Fund, the app overlays brutal stories and scenes on the present-day surroundings of the ampitheatre so you can swagger through the space like Russell Crowe as gladiators clash around you. Chester is one of 12 English cities, including York, Durham, Lincoln and Carlisle, which have collaborated to develop this heritage-meets-technology project to bring historic spaces to life. The ‘England’s Historic Cities’ app is available to download for free on the app store or at historic-cities.com.
CHAMPION CHAMPIGNONS… We know from last week that voters don’t like to be told how they will vote. Now they may have taken things too far; the North West this week voted the brussels sprout as its favourite vegetable, in a survey commissioned by Diabetes UK to promote its ‘Food You Love’ campaign. In Manchester, strawberries and mushrooms were crowned as top fruit and veg, fighting off stiff competition from sweetcorn, green beans, pineapples and grapes. British produce seems to have fallen out of favour a little, with the blackberry receiving not a single vote. Purples wiped out again – insert Nigel Farage joke here.
BREAKFAST VIEWING… The British Lions’ tour of New Zealand has led to outbreaks of blokes in boozers watching rugby at 8am. On Tuesday, developer Glenbrook hosted a breakfast viewing with a difference at the Directors’ Box on Fountain Street in Manchester. It’s a long tour and there will no doubt be lots more chances to escape the office in the name of quality networking, and sport. Among them, on Tuesday 27 June, HOW Planning, AEW Architects and Shepherd Gilmour Consulting Engineers will welcome invited guests to Albert Square Chop House.
Don’t say: back to your desks. Do say: what’s the score?
FORESIGHT… Developer FORE has continued its artistic bent over at the Windmill Green project in Manchester, better known as the former site of brown monolith office 24 Mount Street. After letting MMU take over the empty building for a few months for its art students, now redevelopment is well underway FORE has again turned to art students from the city’s Shillington College to spruce it up a bit. The graphics for the hoarding designs have been created by Mehul Patel, Katie Neal and Xingyu Chai, each showing a day in the life of the building, once complete. Cocktails on the terrace at exactly 18.46, anyone?
We’re trialling new tech to make the process of filling potholes faster, better for the environment and more cost effective. #ourmanchester pic.twitter.com/7WD8KvlxSM
— Mcr City Council (@ManCityCouncil) June 13, 2017
HOLE IN ONE… Manchester City Council is embarking on its £100m road improvement programme. First on the hit list, potholes, and it’s trialling new technology to see if they can get them done quicker and faster. While the video of the ‘Jetpatcher’ in action is very satisfying for the cleanfreaks amongst us, the Twitter responses remain to be convinced…
