Estates Gazette
Property starts headline at Isle of Wight1 June 2009
There were strange looks from the festival-goers who were joined by middle-aged chaps - one in a tweed jacket! - on the Isle of Wight ferry last week.
James Bowdidge and Richard Burge of the Property Merchant Group were headed not for the Isle of Wight Festival but to address a Darwin-themed conference called Imagine on the opposite side of the island.
David Back of Artillery Architecture and Interior Design, who set up the annual event, aims to bring people together for some crystal ball-gazing on the environment and other issues that will affect the future of buildings, particularly offices, and how the property industry needs to adapt to survive and flourish.
Highlights included an exercise using mannequins, props and costumes to imagine the developer of 2050. At least one rather muscular male mannequin ended up in a skirt.
Delegates were all safely back on the Isle of Wight ferry and home before the really loud music started. Plans are already afoot for Imagine 2010.
