Have you ever been in an office building before they put in the glass? It’s really weird. I was up there because the boss asked me to go and do some measurements. Apparently he doesn’t trust the actual building surveyors and estate agents…sure, why would you? They only do that for a living.
Anyway, the place is fourteen stories up and the commercial glaziers aren’t due in until Wednesday, so it’s all just open. Just a few white sheets between you and a pretty substantial drop. Obviously it’s all empty: just pillars, pots of paint and a dusty floor, despite how windy it was. Felt a lot like I was in the climax of an 80s action movie, or I was about to meet with a bunch of fellow villains to discuss how we can kill the hero. A lot of those meetings tend to take place in that sort of place, long before any glaziers have gotten in there. I guess for action movies you’ve got a big, wide-open space for the hero and the villain to either smack each other around or shoot at each other while using the pillars as cover. And then the bad guy can be easily disposed of by shoving him off the edge. Sometimes there ARE windows and they get pushed through them, shattering the glass for dramatic effect, but the rest of it fits.
And I guess it’s just a windy, deserted and dramatic setting for a meeting of big bosses.
Interesting experience. It’s going to look great when it’s all finished. We’re getting one of Melbourne’s best stair balustrading companies in to do up the outer steps, and otherwise it should be an improvement on the current office. But still… I’ll always remember how it used to look and feel. All windy, dramatic and unsafe.