CIAT President's Ball, Glasgow
In 2019, I attended the last ever CIAT President’s Ball. The ball was held in Glasgow, the city of my father’s birth and early life. I have a huge fondness for Glaswegians, we have an attitude-in-common. I had been in town a few weeks earlier for my birthday; to see my favourite band Skerryvore at The Barrowlands, and buy some shoes to go with my Skerryvore Kilt. Standing on the corner of West George Street, I also paid off my car finance agreeement with the last money I received from Harbour View.
A two-night party, celebrations started on the Friday night in the incredible Glasgow City Chambers; I danced with The President’s wife, and we collected £320 for the homeless in my sporran.
On the Saturday night we enjoyed a formal dinner at The Glasgow Grand Central Hotel at Central Station. A gala dinner is now celebrated at the AGM, in lieu of the annual President’s Ball.
I was invited to interview by a firm of Glasgow architects I had met at the event. I dreamt of relocating, of starting again, of being happy and successful. A group of the Senior Partners showed me drawings for the energy upgrade of a corporation tower block .They showed me the proposed external insulation, and described how they wanted to re-use the defunct UPVC windows to build a ‘community greenhouse’. I highlighted several thermal bridges, the risk of flooding from the balconies to individual flats, and the potential cost implications of building a greenhouse from heavy UPVC windows in Scotland’s wild weather; essentially branding the concept an ideological pipe-dream. I hoped to be making constructive, useful remarks. The mood in the room progressively darkened as the architects seemed to feel more and more criticised. Needless to say, I didn’t get the job.