Recently in Property & Architecture Category

Fowey from Polruan, originally uploaded by Adam Tinworth.

You see that odd little piece of architecture on the building to the left of the church?

It was built solely so that the house would be taller than he church, after a dispute between the owner and the vicar…

I'm sticking more photos from my Cornwall holiday up on Coffee & Complexity, my new general interest blog.

Practical Blogging talks about the coffee shop as an ideal place to write, based on an article in USA Today.

This is a familiar idea. In fact, it's been something of an obsession for me since I ran an article in Estates Gazette on the idea of coffee shops becoming the new offices for mobile workers nearly three years ago. But lately, my thinking has been turning on its head. Why are these places more conducive to writing than more conventional work environments? I certainly find it easier to do any form of writing in a coffee shop, or on a train, or on a sofa, than I do in my work or home office.

What's the psychology of that, and how could we use it to improve our work environments?

Ah, I love the fact that the almost daily press releases from the residential property firms still drop into my work inbox. Othewise I'd miss gems like this:

NUDE BRITANNIA

84% of Brits would buy a home next door to naturists

The great heatwave of 2006 may already seem like a distant memory, but as the summer draws to a close, a new survey by property website propertyfinder.com reveals that millions of Britons have been stripping off completely on terraces, balconies and in gardens all over the UK.

A startling 19.7% of respondents say they have got their kit off outside while at home on at least one occasion, equivalent to around 11 million people. The figures also suggest people are not going to great lengths to ensure nobody sees them, with 21% saying that they have caught their neighbours in the altogether at some point.

Thanks to Primelocation for that little insight into the great British public…

Blogging seems to have hit the built environment in a big way in recent months. I've just had to reorganize my "Built Environment" category in my RSS feed reader into a number of sub-categories, because the list of worthwhile blogs was getting unwieldy.

Is this going to have an impact on my day job? Time will tell.

Technorati Tags: architecture, property, built environment

The Office, originally uploaded by Adam Tinworth.

I'm back in the office today, after a week working remotely.

Much as I enjoy working from home, or other locations, I am glad to be back in EG's Procter Street hub. Working from home is an excellent way of concentrating on particualr tasks, getting copy edited and sent to the sub-editing desks and clearing e-mail.

But the social buzz of the office is still the best way of generating ideas. If we do, as a culture, shift towards a more mobile working paradigim, then our office spaces are going to have to develop to reflect their primarily social role.

Jane Jacobs, one of the most interesting writers on urban environments, has died, aged 89. She was the author of books such as the Death and Life of Great American Cities and Dark Age Ahead, both of which I recommend highly.

The world is poorer for her passing, but richer for her writing.

[via Panchromatica]

Technorati Tags: jane jacobs, urbanism, writers

1. I think I scared a lot of people this morning. I got onto my normal morning train at Lewisham, to find an unattended bad sat in the entrance way. I asked the assembled commuters if it belonged to anyone, and got no reply. Slowly, dozens of eyes widened in fear, as they realised what that could mean. Luckily, a small, embarrassed voice from the other end of the carriage said that it was theirs. People forget all too quickly, don't they?

2. How come, when I give a book a bad review in print, the first enquiry we get about it is someone asking where they can buy it? (The book in question is 30 St Mary Axe: A Tower For London. While it's not much use for the property professional, the more lay readers here may well enjoy it.)

3. Is there a single woman in London who looks good in those mid-calf length trousers that are all the rage at the moment? If so, I haven't seen here.

Technorati Tags: 30 st mary axe, architecture, commuting, fashion, london, gherkin, terrorism

Norfolk and Nowich Hospital, originally uploaded by Adam Tinworth.

Off taking Mum to hospital for an appointment and some tests. And bored, while waiting. So, phone pic time. It's a dull, corporate looking hospital from the outside, but inside it's the most impressive hospital I've been in. Friendly, spacious, efficient and, based on Mum's treatment, I'm very impressed.

Heritage buildings and hospitals are not good partners, in my book. New build all the way.

If anyone is still reading this blog because of my property industry connections, they might want to check out a couple of links to property-related developments from the Chancellor's pre-budget statement from my work blog today.

Technorati Tags: tax, budget, gordon brown, pre-budget report, development, land tax, property, real estate, politics