THE SHARD & LONDON BRIDGE PLACE / RENZO PIANO

The Shard (also referred to as Shard London Bridge, the London Bridge Tower or the Shard of Glass is a skyscraper in London, United Kingdom. Standing 309.6 metres (1,016 ft) high, it topped out on 30 March 2012. The Shard is the tallest building in Europe, and is also the second-tallest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom, after the 330-metre (1,083 ft) concrete tower at the Emley Moor transmitting station. The Shard replaced Southwark Towers, a 24-story office block built on the site in Southwark in 1975. Renzo Piano, the Shard`s architect, worked with the architectural firm Broadway Malyan during the planning stage. The tower has 72 habitable floors, with a viewing gallery and open-air observation deck – the UK`s highest – on the 72nd floor, at a height of 245 metres (804 ft). The Shard was designed with an irregular pyramidal shape from the base to the top, and is clad entirely in glass. Its structure was completed in April 2012. The tower was inaugurated on 5 July 2012, and is scheduled to open to the public in February 2013.

 

The Shard was designed in 2000 by Renzo Piano. That year, the London-based entrepreneur Irvine Sellar decided to redevelop Southwark Towers, a 1970s office block next to London Bridge station, and flew to Berlin in March 2000 to meet Piano for lunch. According to Sellar, the architect spoke of his contempt for tall buildings during the meal, before flipping over the restaurant’s menu and sketching an iceberg-like sculpture emerging from the River Thames. He was inspired by the railway lines next to the site, the London spires depicted by the 18th-century Venetian painter Canaletto, and the masts of sailing ships.

 

In July 2002, then-Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, ordered a planning inquiry after the Shard development plans were opposed by local authorities and heritage bodies, including the Royal Parks Foundation and English Heritage.The inquiry took place in April and May 2003, and on 19 November 2003, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister announced that construction had been approved.

 

The government released a letter stating that:
“Mr Prescott would only approve skyscrapers of exceptional design. For a building of this size to be acceptable, the quality of its design is critical. He is satisfied that the proposed tower is of the highest architectural quality.”

The Southwark Towers office block, which was demolished to make way for the Shard
The developers – CLS Holdings plc, Sellar Property Group, and CN Ltd (acting for the Halabi Family Trust) – secured an interim funding package of £196 million in September 2006 from the Nationwide Building Society and Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander. This enabled them to pay off the costs already incurred and to buy out the Southwark Towers occupational lease from the tenants, PricewaterhouseCoopers. Vacant possession of the site was secured a year later, after PricewaterhouseCoopers completed the relocation of their operations.

 

In September 2007, preparations for the demolition of Southwark Towers began.However, later in the month, turbulence in the financial markets reportedly put the construction phase of the project in jeopardy,threatening to render the whole project an example of the Skyscraper Index. Later that month, it was reported that the Halabi Family Trust, one of the main backers of the project, had been forced to sell its stake.In November 2007, building contractor Mace was awarded the contract to build the Shard for a fixed price of no more than £350 million. However, this price increased to almost £435 million in October 2008.In April 2008, demolition of Southwark Towers was visibly under way, with scaffolding and white sheeting covering the building, and by October, Southwark Towers had been substantially reduced in height, and was no longer visible on the skyline. The building`s demolition was completed in early 2009, and site preparation began for the construction of the Shard.

 

ARCHITECTURE

Renzo Piano, the project`s architect, compared his design to “a shard of glass”. He considered the slender, spire-like form of the tower a positive addition to the London skyline, recalling the church steeples featured in historic engravings of the city, and believed that its presence would be far more delicate than opponents of the project alleged. He proposed a sophisticated use of glazing, with expressive façades of angled glass panes intended to reflect sunlight and the sky above, so that the appearance of the building will change according to the weather and seasons.The building features 11,000 panes of glass.

 

Following the destruction of the World Trade Center (WTC) in September 2001, architects and structural engineers worldwide began re-evaluating the design of tall structures. The Shard’s early conceptual designs were among the first in the UK to be progressed following the publication of the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) report into the WTC collapse. The building was designed to maintain its stability under the most onerous conditions.

 

The completed Shard will contain premium office space, a hotel, luxury residences, retail space, restaurants, a 5-storey public viewing gallery, and a spa.[30] The public viewing gallery will be located on the 72nd floor, at a height of 245 metres (804 ft), and is expected to draw over two million visitors a year once it opens in February 2013. The gallery`s adult entry fee will be £24.95 (US$39.02).[31] In addition, a shorter building, known as London Bridge Place, will be built nearby. This will replace the current London Bridge House, and the combined sites will create what will be known as the London Bridge Quarter.

 

In addition to the tower, there will be major improvements made to the London Bridge rail and Tube station and the surrounding area. As part of a Section 106 legal agreement, these improvements will include a new public concourse, as well as a public piazza, a museum, and local housing and regeneration programmes. In May 2012, the Shard`s developers pledged to offer 300 jobs in the tower and its environs for unemployed locals.