Property News · June 15, 2018

Let’s move to Ipswich, Suffolk: 'More David Brent than Steve Jobs'


You can – just about – find Ipswichness peeping out, in its burgeoning festival scene or the independent shops and 17th-century gablesWhat’s going for it? Imagine the scene. Early 70s. Handlebar moustaches. Santana on the radio. California comes to Suffolk. OK, it’s an insurance firm, not a Silicon Valley startup. But look at that office: straight outta San Fran. Almost mirror-glass walls. Cool. Rooftop cafe. Escalators. Acid colours. What? A built-in swimming pool?! The Willis building, built by Norman Foster in his late 30s, still looks as if the future hasn’t quite caught up with it. Ipswich’s future turned out more banal than bright.At least it’s fairly prosperous. Small mercies. But the waterfront slick of office parks and Pizza Expresses is more David Brent than Steve Jobs. Look hard, though, and you can – just about – find Ipswichness peeping out, in its burgeoning festival scene, say, or the independent shops and 17th-century gables amid the Zizzis on St Nicholas Street. For a thousand years, this was a North Sea port up there with Hamburg and Antwerp. Who knows, one day it might be again. Continue reading…

Source : theguardian.com
Read more…Let’s move to Ipswich, Suffolk: ‘More David Brent than Steve Jobs’

You may also like...