THING OF THE WEEK

BUILDING PRIDE… It is Pride weekend in Manchester, and we’re pleased to see the construction industry joining in the celebration. Building Equality, an organisation dedicated to promoting LGBTQ+ inclusion in the built environment, has set up shop outside Selfridges in Exchange Square with a vibrant rainbow JCB. For the architects out there, non-profit organisation Architecture LGBT+ is hosting a breakfast at Levitt Bernstein’s Studio in Manchester on Saturday to help kick off Pride. The breakfast is free, but you’ll need to register on EventBrite.

Credit: Place North West

HERE COMES TROUBLE… Wahala translates from Nigerian slang to ‘trouble’ and is the name of a new nightclub being built on Salford’s Chapel Street. Some of you may remember Bijou Club, a small tucked-away venue overlooking the River Irwell that was knocked down around 2019. A replacement building is currently under construction and a licence application submitted to Salford City Council is seeking permission for drinks to be served until 4am. This could spell wahala. 

Credit: Place North West

JARRING... Just a little further up the same road, McAleer & Rushe has begun constructing a 188-bedroom Maldron hotel. But we need your help finding out why there are glass jars perched on the fences surrounding the site. Answers on a postcard. 

Credit: via Google Maps

BIKES AND BOATS … Arup associate Ian Ford is bidding to raise money for Claire House Children’s Hospice by taking part in a Triathlon+ of his own making. Like a standard Olympic Tri, Ford’s event consists of a 1.5km swim and 10k run, but he has gone rogue on the cycling element. Instead of completing the standard 40km, he is extending the two-wheeled portion of the race by an additional 60km. He plans to ride around the entire Wirral Peninsula before collapsing in a heap somewhere near the England/Wales border. 

And if Ford has recovered from his Triathlon+, he will be part of team Arup taking part in Peel L&P’s annual Liverpool Waters Dragon Boat Race at Princes Dock on 15 September. That race is one of several Dragon Boat events coming up, Liverpool-based architect Falconer Chester Hall’s team – dubbed Oar We There Yet – will be splashing for victory at Crosby Lakeside Adventure Centre on 10 September while the UK Corporate Dragon Boat Series (!?) comes to Liverpool on the 25th. All money raised will go to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and Claire House Children’s Hospice. You can donate for the 15 Sept race here and the 10 Sept one here.

Tyler Grange staff have much more time for hobbies these days. Credit: via Tyler Grange

WORK-LIFE BALANCE… You may remember an instalment of THING OF THE WEEK back in July brought news of Tyler Grange’s four-day working week trial. Now into the second month of the experiment, which sees staff across the company’s four offices get Fridays off, Tyler Grange is reporting no drop in productivity. The company said: “Tyler Grange has produced the same amount of work so far during the pilot – from June to August – as it did in the same period last year. This is a measurement ratio of productive time versus direct costs, which means the company is, as planned, 100% productive in 80% of the time.” You can keep abreast of how the trial is going by following managing director Simon Ursell’s blog. 

Credit: via Manchester City Council

BANCOATS… Cutting Room Square in Ancoats is being closed to cars in a move that has been welcomed by lovers of alfresco drinking and dining. In response to the news, each of the many popular bars and restaurants that line the square has submitted an application for a pavement licence. The fact this has happened as the hottest summer in living memory is ending is very Manchester.