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LEARNING LONDON EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMME
FACT SHEETS 1
The Shard Story Developing The Shard
The idea for The Shard was the brainchild of property developer, Irvine Sellar
Southwark Towers, a 1970s office block, had been purchased as an investment
It made poor use of a good site which had excellent transport links
In 1999, a proposal for a high building on the site was put forward
Opposition came from English Heritage and Historical Royal Palaces
Support came from the Mayor of London and the local community in Southwark
Originally the building was planned to be 400 metres high, but the height was reduced following 9/11
Planning consent was obtained in November 2003
The architect, Renzo Piano, was appointed in
2000 he had been suggested to Sellar by a colleague who admired his work
Not known for designing tall buildings, Renzo Piano saw the sense of a high-rise development at London Bridge
The idea was to create a vertical city, a place where people live, work and enjoy themselves
The roads in this city are the buildings banks of lifts and escalators
Having public access was seen as a vital component of the project, but it is highly unusual for a tall building in London
Investment in the project came from the Sellar Property Group and the State of Qatar
The Shard is the centrepiece of London Bridge Quarter a 2bn development to regenerate and rejuvenate the area adjacent to London Bridge Station
LEARNING LONDON EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMME 2
The Shard Story Designing The Shard
The architect of The Shard is Renzo Piano, one of the most innovative architects in the world today
Piano achieved international acclaim when, in partnership with Richard Rogers, he designed the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris in the 1970s
The Renzo Piano Building Workshop was established in 1981 and notable projects include The New York Times Building in New York, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston and Central St Giles in London
Irvine Sellar met Renzo Piano for the first time in 2000 in a restaurant in Berlin to discuss the idea of a tall building at London Bridge
Piano sketched his initial design thoughts on the back of a napkin in the restaurant that initial sketch bears a remarkable resemblance to the finished building
Piano wrote on the sketch To Irvine from Renzo, May 2000 Berlin
Pianos inspiration for the design of The Shard comes from the sailing masts of the ships that docked in the river Thames and the steeples of Sir Christopher Wrens churches in the City of London
Sitting on the banks of the Thames, Piano designed his building to be a kaleidoscope that responds to changeable London weather, to light and shade like a mirror, reflecting the city
Realising the vision of a shard of glass meant the design of the faade was critical, with large sheets of floor-to-ceiling glazing providing unobstructed views of London
Piano envisaged a building that would respond to the changeable English climate
The form of the tower itself is configured with views in mind, but equally to optimize climatic conditions for its users
The mix of uses within The Shard meant that office workers, hotel guests and diners, residents of the apartments, and the public visiting The View from The Shard all had to have their own points of entry to the building, with no fewer than 44 lifts to whisk them to their required levels
The top of the building is a spectacular glass and steel spire
The dramatic design forms a new London landmark
FACT SHEETS
LEARNING LONDON EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMME 3
The Shard Story Constructing The Shard
The Shard took three years to build, with up to 1,500 people working on its construction
Nothing about the project was simple: the team had to work on a constricted site, hemmed in by streets and buildings, including a major hospital, and overlapping one of Londons busiest railway stations
The foundations began with 120 piles extending 54 metres (177 feet) deep into the ground
Each of these had to bear a weight of 2800 tonnes (3086 US tons) as the first 21 storeys of the tower were constructed around a central core
The Shard has three basement levels used for services and vehicle access, the lowest extending more than 13 metres (42 feet) below ground level
Excavating the basements was a tricky operation, given the proximity of the Thames, so a massive retaining wall was built to enclose the site and provide a safe, dry base for the tower
A massive concrete raft was constructed at the lowest basement level, which provided the structural underpinning for construction of the upper levels
The 4-metre (13-foot) thick basement raft was an operation of heroic proportions: it was probably the largest concrete pour ever carried out in Britain
In a space of 36 hours, 700 truckloads of concrete were delivered in a military-style operation
The core of The Shard was built top down the strategy used to construct the basements allowed the concrete core of the building to be raised simultaneously
A rig on top of the core was used to pour concrete as the structure rose
On top of the core a crane was installed, steadily rising as the core itself grew
Four tower cranes were installed to deliver steelwork.
In the final stages of construction, the site boasted the tallest tower crane in Europe
The Shard is clad with more than 11,000 individual glass panels, assembled in prefabricated sections to form a unitised faade system
Assembled in a factory in Holland, the glass panels incorporate two layers of glass, blinds and the motors powering them
On site, they were raised by lift and installed floor by floor each panel typically took 15 minutes to install
The Spire contains some 1,300 individual parts Assembling it at the summit of the tower was
always a challenge A dry run at the steel-fabricators works in
Yorkshire was followed by the Spire being dismantled and transported to the site and assembled in sections
These were lifted into place and fixed into position with the aid of a team of expert steel erectors
FACT SHEETS
LEARNING LONDON EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMME 4
The Shard Story Inside The Shard
The Shard contains a mix of uses and is a vertical city of offices, hotel and restaurants, apartments and public viewing galleries
Levels 2-28 are offices Entered via a double-height lobby clad in white,
hand-chiselled Carrara marble
Levels 31-33 have some of the highest restaurants in London
Aqua Shard on Level 31 serves innovative contemporary British cuisine and features a three-storey high atrium bar
Oblix on Level 32 features an aged cocktail library and live music
Hutong on Level 33 serves Chinese cuisine and features traditional Chinese decor and hand-carved Moon Gates
Level 34-52 is the Shangri-La Hotel, with 202 guestrooms and its own restaurant
The spa and infinity pool is on Level 52
Level 53-65 are exclusive residences with unparalleled views over London
The penthouse on Levels 64 and 65 is rumoured to have seven bedrooms
The View from The Shard occupies Levels 68-72 and offers the highest viewing gallery in London
The building is crowned by the dramatic steel and glass spire, which occupies Levels 75-95
Travel up this vertical city is via the 44 lifts, some of which are double-decker, and the 306 flights of stairs
FACT SHEETS
LEARNING LONDON EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMME 5
Fast Facts The View from The Shard
The View from The Shard sits 244 metres (800 feet) above London, almost twice as high as any other view in the city
Double-decker elevators travel at speeds of 6 metres a second
The lifts have kaleidoscope ceilings, which change as you ascend and descend to The View
The View has 360 degree uninterrupted viewsfor up to 40 miles
It is possible to see Windsor Castle on a clear day
The View is a day and night experience, open from 10am - 10pm (in summer)
Guests can stay as long as they like, taking time to appreciate the city from this unique perspective
Iconic London landmarks are laid out before you, including:
to the EAST: Olympic Stadium, Tower Bridge and Canary Wharf
to the WEST: Big Ben and the Houses of
Parliament, Buckingham Palace and the BT Tower to the SOUTH: Battersea Power Station, the
Imperial War Museum, Crystal Palace and The Oval cricket ground
to the NORTH: St Pauls Cathedral, the Tower of London, Alexandra Palace and the Monument
Level 72, the highest public level, allows people to stand in the open, exposed to the elements and the sounds of the city beneath, and look up to the shards of glass that form the top of the remarkable building
The Tell:scopes on Level 69 are state-of-the-art interactive telescopes with unique views of London
London can be viewed in real-time, by day, by night, at dusk and going back through the centuries
One Tell:scope also provides a view of London in the future, taking account of planned building work
The View from The Shard has the highest toilets in London with the Loo with a View on Level
