They worked with the Feng Shui Network says Elaine Mitchell in corporate communications because other organisations

They worked with the Feng Shui Network, says Elaine Mitchell in corporate communications, “because other organisations were too holistic. We’d never get any land to build on if we went the whole hog.” The booklet bought Wimpey cred with Far- Eastern clients, pounds 2.5m to pounds 3m in cost-equivalent press coverage and a slot on GMTV.Perhaps Feng Shui’s most promising Western application is in the planning of public spaces. As Stephen Skinner points out, you don’t have to believe in poison arrows to see that fast roads such as London’s Westway damage local business and communities. The auspiciousness of Canary Wharf’s site in the loop of the Thames will be explored in the magazine. “The building is Fire element because of the triangular bit at the top,” he says.

“I don’t know when Olympia & York went bust over Canary Wharf but I would wager a small meal that it was in a period when Fire was badly aspected.”Town planner Michael Osman called in US expert Bill Spears, said to charge pounds 350 an hour, to help defuse racial conflict in the Bethnal Green area. Suggestions included introducing curves to the footpath across the well-used but characterless Weaver’s Field to slow down the flow of Chi. The area’s proliferation of long straight railway lines posed more of an obstacle Osman is undaunted. “There is currently a bit of a credibility issue when dealing with local authorities. But in 25 years I would like to see Feng Shui taught in undergraduate planning courses.”One hard-headed thirtysomething, sent on a pounds 280 one-day Feng Shui course by her employers, was surprised to find “quite a lot of it worked quite well I rather suspect it’s a fad,” she says, “but not a bad one. If it will make people think about how we move around in space and if people are using it to rethink office spaces that can only be a good thing.”Feng Shui may make no impact on British sceptics, beyond “auspicious” replacing the term “awesome” as a term of respect, but after this year’s onslaught, you won’t be able to look at those compelling little ground plans that the Landmark Trust prints in its holiday home handbook in quite the same way again This one’s got a spiral staircase Think of the poison arrows. A sink in the wealth corner? We’ll be burgled while we’re away …`Feng Shui for Modern Living’ is launched on 10 February; `Housebusters’ is on Channel 5 from 19 January for 13 weeks.

ANTHONY NEWLEY

ENTERTAINER
Lives in a mock Queen Anne house in Surrey with his motherLocation: The Dorset countryside It’s the county where the grass comes literally to the sea. It’s that wonderful combination of the vast ocean and English countryside.Essential local amenities: As both Mother and I are of a certain age I would say that a good hospital would be top of our list. Like most men of my age I do look for space between me and the rest of human nature, but I would like a small country town nearby. It should have good shopping facilities, but be unspoiled by traffic.Character AND CONSTRUCTION of the building: I have this dream of the perfect home being faded and elegant. Built of well-used brick or wonderful stone, it would have ivy growing up the front of the house, two storeys above ground floor, and nice thick walls. It would have that picture postcard look.Period: Again, I don’t think that’s as important as the look of the building. I am not an expert on periods but like anything that looks weathered and charming.

A Georgian front is always gorgeous.HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS: One immediately thinks of ghosts. I would prefer not to have a home that was peopled by previous residents but it would be nice to have a story associated with the house.Bedrooms: At least four There’s mother and me, and Gina my dear companion. I have four children, but they would probably stay in the well-appointed outbuilding.Bathrooms: FourReception rooms: A drawing room A large library. A dining room for formal dining.Essential kitchen features: For me the kitchen is the heart of a house and Gina and I have often talked, as has Mother, of having a very large kitchen in which we would spend most of the day. I would like to see all the essential kitchen utensils, lots of copper pots and a spacious eating area.