Shard London Bridge
| The Shard | |
|---|---|
The Shard in April 2015, viewed from the "Sky Garden" atop 20 Fenchurch Street
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| General information | |
| Status | Complete |
| Architectural style | Neo-futurism |
| Location | Southwark, London |
| Coordinates | 51°30′16″N 0°05′11″W / 51.5045°N 0.0865°WCoordinates: 51°30′16″N 0°05′11″W / 51.5045°N 0.0865°W |
| Construction started | March 2009 |
| Completed | July 2012 |
| Opening | 1 February 2013 |
| Cost | ~£435 million (contract cost only) |
| Owner |
State of Qatar (95%) Sellar Property Group (5%) |
| Height | |
| Architectural | 309.7 m (1,016 ft) |
| Observatory | 244.3 m (802 ft) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 95 (72 habitable) |
| Floor area | 110,000 m2 (1,200,000 sq ft) |
| Lifts/elevators | 44 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Renzo Piano |
| Developer | Sellar Property Group |
| Structural engineer | WSP Global (structural engineers), Robert Bird Group (concrete temporary works), Ischebeck Titan on most floors 40+ (concrete support) |
| Services engineer | Arup |
| Main contractor | Mace |
| References | |
The Shard, also referred to as the Shard of Glass,Shard London Bridge and formerly London Bridge Tower, is a 95-storey skyscraper in Southwark, London, that forms part of the London Bridge Quarter development. Standing 309.7 metres (1,016 ft) high, the Shard is the tallest building in the United Kingdom, the fourth-tallest building in Europe and the 111th-tallest building in the world. It is also the second-tallest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom, after the concrete tower at the Emley Moor transmitting station.
The Shard's construction began in March 2009; it was topped out on 30 March 2012 and inaugurated on 6 July 2012. Practical completion was achieved in November 2012. The tower's privately operated observation deck, The View from The Shard, was opened to the public on 1 February 2013. The glass-clad pyramidal tower has 72 habitable floors, with a viewing gallery and open-air observation deck on the 72nd floor, at a height of 244.3 metres (802 ft). It was designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano and replaced Southwark Towers, a 24-storey office block built on the site in 1975. The Shard was developed by Sellar Property Group on behalf of LBQ Ltd and is jointly owned by Sellar Property and the State of Qatar.
In 1998, London-based entrepreneur Irvine Sellar and his then-partners decided to redevelop the 1970s-era Southwark Towers following a UK government white paper encouraging the development of tall buildings at major transport hubs. Sellar flew to Berlin in the spring of 2000 to meet the Italian architect Renzo Piano for lunch. According to Sellar, Piano spoke of his contempt for conventional tall buildings during the meal, before flipping over the restaurant's menu and sketching a spire-like sculpture emerging from the River Thames.
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Wikipedia