The Marco Polo Building - London 2002

In May 2002 I was asked by a researcher from BBC television if I would like to survey the exterior of the Marco Polo building close to Battersea Power Station in London and to offer my comments. My only brief was that the building, which was built in 1977, has housed several businesses that have either gone into decline or been taken over or, worse still, gone bust! No fancy Flying Stars of the interior, simply Landscape Feng Shui from the outside.

I drove up to the building early on a Sunday morning and parked outside and before long I was greeted by a friendly African security guard from a neighbouring building site who wanted to know what I was up to. Instantly, I recognised from his accent that he was from Kenya and within seconds we were well away in Swahili and discovered that we were born some 5 miles apart and indeed, wasn't it a small world! He asked me what I was up to, I explained and he said carry on and do your thing and let's talk when you've finished.

At first glance the building looks like a mausoleum. It has a grey marble effect for most of the structure and very dark black/brown windows and gives off a very cool, dark impression. I also noticed how difficult it was to find the building - there was no name on it!

Simply walking around the entire building it became very obvious what was wrong. The main door was at the back! How on earth was this possible. The architect and designer had built a wonderful main entrance right up on the main road which leads onto one of the major bridges across the River Thames, less than 200 yards away - a fantastic source of Chi! However, the building with this amazingly appropriate entrance is all sealed up at the front and Chi has to trickle around the back to an entrance which is literally "hidden away". By the time the Chi has found itself here, it has already lost most of its momentum and is unlikely to support the building very well. To make matters worse, the support (the Mountain) at the back is also weak. It is made up of a number of arches which support the main railway line into Victoria Station. There is no solidity, no support and even on a quiet Sunday morning, the noise of the trains when they passed, left you unable to think for a moment.

Either side of the main entrance were tall, spindly, unhealthy bushes with 30 centimetre long spiky leaves aimed straight at the front door.

I couldn't resist taking out my Lo Pan Compass and checking the Double Mountain calculation, taking the source of Chi as the River Thames and the entrance at the back as the main entrance. This combination brought "Hopelessness" to the front door! Closer examination of the Flying Stars of the site and Facing Directions of the building revealed that it was one of the most auspicious in this current Fate Period. There was money in the 24 Dragons - it was perfect. However, what ever was going to happen in this building was going to be rapid.

As I wandered back to my vehicle, my cheerful Kenyan friend asked me what I thought but before I had an opportunity to try out my explanation of Feng Shui in Swahili, he came up with the best conclusions and it really does show that Form School Feng Shui is pure common sense and that a beginner's mind is all that you need. His main points were:-

Ø The building doesn't have a sign and people are always asking where it is
Ø Why did they put the entrance at the back?
Ø With all that dark shaded glazing he said the building looked like it had sunglasses on!
Ø The building looked to him like a tomb.

Later that week while filming the sequence for the BBC, I asked the Producer what the story was as far as the designer was concerned. It seemed that he had designed and built the main entrance at the front but one of the tenants (BSB Sky I believe) asked for the entrance to be placed at the back of the building. The building is a wonderful example of "Wrong Shui" - all it would take is opening up the front door and strengthening the Mountain behind and carefully "holding" the Chi within the site. It would then have a very bright future.

Feng Shui and the Office

In 1995 I decided that I would like to embark on a career in writing as an adjunct to my work as a Teacher and a Practitioner. I was very clear about the subjects I would like to write about, what would be involved and how much time it would take up. However, I did not have an agent, I did not have a publisher and I had a modestly filled In-Tray of polite refusals from various publishers. I was still not put off and decided to set aside a room - a rather small box room in my home where I could begin to write and study. I was quite pleased with my efforts, given the space constraints of the room but was completely devastated when a Feng Shui colleague of mine came for lunch one day and had a quick peep into my den. His polite observations left me seeing that I was still a novice and I hastily re-modelled the room over the following 24 hours.

To begin with, I was sitting in a draft of Chi - I sat midway between the door and the opposite window - allowing my ideas and inspiration to be distracted. The desk from which I hoped words of wisdom would pour forth was simply a large piece of plywood supported by a couple of trestles! Next, the chair I was using was a rickety, collapsible, wooden garden chair with no support at the back and I had stoically been putting up with the discomfort at the same time. On top of this, I had my desk facing a blank wall, while in the sector of the room which I had assessed as being representative of my fame and reputation, I had hung an old black and white photograph of a rally car struggling through the mud that I had won a competition with during the East African Safari Rally. Did this image truly reflect how I wished to be known or was there a reflection of what drove me - difficulty, struggle, mud? Piled up behind me on the floor were stacks of notes, books and audio tapes and all my valuable research material that I had accumulated over the years. Shelves to my other side were laden down with more books and note.

Within 24 hours I had transformed the space. In came a stable desk, moved away from the wall and with a clear view of the door, a sturdy chair replaced the rickety garden one. All the notes and books that I did not need were relegated to the attic together with my treasured photograph. I now had space ahead of me and support behind me. I replaced the photograph with one of a Sioux Indian raising his spear with a defiant look of winning in his face. Using my compass, I carefully positioned my chair to face my very best direction and meticulously angled my telephone and even relocated the telephone socket so that I would benefit from the best calls and e.mails.

By the time I had finished the job, the room had a certain buzz and tingle about it. It felt alive and ready to support the mission I was on. Over the next few weeks I actually had 100% success in my approach to publishers and ended up with 3 contracts with different publishers! At this point I decided I had better quieten and stabilise the Feng Shui so that I could maintain my commitment and get the job done. One of the stars within this property was also associated with the possibility of moving to a larger and better property. Within 3 months my family and I were re-located to a much bigger property within 100 yards of the banks of the River Thames where we still live.