Photo credit Eddie Mitchell, from BBC News https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj0z0dvpgqeo

...... and how shocking it is when you see it savagely demolished

Over the last week, many of us connected to The Body Shop and to Littlehampton have been processing seeing the Pagoda Building at Watersmead, Littlehampton begin to be demolished.

After trying to suppress it - I felt I had to write an article about it, which I did on Linked In.

It's so good that The Body Shop has survived recent history - but I'm sure all employees past and present are horrified to see the Watersmead 'Pagoda Building' at Littlehampton being so horrifically and destructively demolished.

Never have I been in such an immersive building that spoke the values of a company. A biophilic building, set in lush landscape (apart from a car park!) with beehives, water features, sculpture scenes from paintings such as Manet's "Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe" and with a courtyard inside for maximising daylight and views to nature. Visiting filled the senses with delight with all the biophilic elements used. Smells, art, inspiring quotes, curious displays of exotic natural ingredients and visitors from all over the World. And of course the chance you might get to see Anita and Gordon - or even who, exciting, might be visiting them! It always represented the heart of the company to me.

I never got to be based there - instead an office building close by (our Mock Shop was too big!) but just visiting the Pagoda Building for a meeting or lunch in the fifties inspired Uncle Fred's diner just filled me with excitement. Something I was lucky to experience again a couple of years ago visiting Jo Percival Rob Jones and Sally Watkins for my book research - to see the latest, most innovative version of the Mock Shop where the store concept is experimented with. All the lucky ones worked in this building and they knew it! I always felt it was the heart of the company and the longest serving employees seemed to be all there.

Many of us in the 90s knew it as visitors to the Trading Post. This was the shop in the grounds which was where the factory 'Tour' began and ended - and where you could get discounted end of lines and Animals In Danger goodies and have your photo taken outside with the rolling Body Shop logo. I ended up assisting Daisy Cresswell FRSA design the Against Animal Testing section of the tour during my work experience - which led to my life changing career there.

I'm relieved the company in miniature has survived and is now in a favourite healthy building near me in Brighton, Plus X Innovation. I know this must be so distressing for current employees to see. I feel dreadful and I've always felt like a newcomer to the company - many have worked there much earlier and longer than me. I really feel for you. I'm sad for the local community it has served, to see this happening too.

Reuse and Retrofit First is still not a standard for the Built Environment

I still fortunately work in the Built Environment, trying to make positive change in the small ways I can. I really do feel frustrated seeing this destruction and more than disappointed that such a well designed and historic iconic building couldn't be reused. Where's the urban mining and materials passports? It's just being destructively smashed up making none of it meaningfully reusable. I'm sad about the state of our planning laws not encouraging reuse - and taxes that incentivise new build - still with 0% tax whereas reuse is taxed 20% or 5% (reduced rate if eligible).

Anita would be angry. I am too - but I'm trying to immerse myself back in those memories of such a positive world leading company that made profit whilst making positive change globally for people, animals and planet. We all really need to keep those ripples going into next year - the 50th birthday year for the company - and keep them going well beyond that.