好色先生TV

Not so Wellcome

The news last week that Delancey and Qatari Diar have succeeded in their high-profile bid to take on the 2,800-home athletes鈥� village after the Olympic Games, instead of the Wellcome Trust, will not come as a surprise to seasoned Olympic watchers. My spies tell me that the story - reported in Property Week - is correct, and that the Wellcome Trust鈥檚 failure torpedoes its 拢1bn bid to redevelop the park in legacy mode. The well-connected Trust is - so I鈥檝e been told - thought to have annoyed those leading the process by attempting to go above the heads of decision-makers the ODA, by lobbying ministers and refusing to accept the bid criteria. However, rumours suggest the ODA鈥檚 decision was not an agonising one - gossips say the Trust鈥檚 bid price was about half of that tabled by Delancey and QD.

Sweet as you like

Fancy going rowing on the roof of Selfridges, London鈥檚 famed department store? Well for one weekend only, you can. Food artists Bompas & Parr are erecting a pool filled with 60 tonnes of water this weekend on the shop鈥檚 roof. To ensure the structure doesn鈥檛 plummet through the building, the roof will be reinforced by 190m of steel. The stunt is to celebrate the launch of a new sweetener, reportedly 200 times sweeter than sugar. I hope it doesn鈥檛 also have 200 times the laxative effect of a normal sweetener or you may have to cut your boating trip short.

Going large

My journalists are never ones to turn down a tipple and a canape, so 好色先生TV turned out in force at last week鈥檚 Davis Langdon (an Aecom company) annual summer reception. It was interesting to note the event鈥檚 return to Temple Gardens after last year鈥檚 departure to the Tate Modern. Could this be a desire for
closer continuity with its independent Davis Langdon past? In any case, kudos to our hosts for the substantial canapes, some of which were served in brick-sized cardboard containers. Perhaps they have absorbed some of the customs of their parent company鈥檚 nation.

To the autobahn, Robin!

It is often said that construction is a testosterone-fuelled industry. Which goes some way to explaining why 22 staff from Weston Homes got behind the wheels of a fleet of Robin Reliants to race across Europe. The 鈥淣umball Rally鈥� saw staff speed from their office in Takeley, Essex through Denmark, Holland and Germany to raise money for charity. Although 鈥渟peed鈥� may not be the word - the 40bhp three-wheeled cars have a top speed of 85mph, hardly the fastest thing on an autobahn.

Follow that cab inventor!

While I may be 好色先生TV鈥檚 longest-running columnist, I like to think of myself as a pioneer first, columnist second. In 1834, a decade before I founded this publication, I invented the Hansom cab, which transported the gentry of London, Paris and Berlin from their parlours to the music hall. In fact, I have always been keen to try out the latest gadgets - that iPhone isn鈥檛 just for show you know. So this week I joined Twitter. If you can鈥檛 wait until Friday for the latest industry gossip, come and have a follow @JosephHansom.