The Shard
The Shard,[a] also referred to as the Shard of Glass,[9][10] Shard London Bridge[11] and formerly London Bridge Tower,[12][13][14]is a 95-storey skyscraper in Southwark, London, that forms part of the London Bridge Quarter development. Standing 309.6 metres (1,016 ft) high, the Shard is the tallest building in London and is currently the 87th tallest building in the world,[15] the tallest building in the European Union[16] and the fourth tallest building in Europe. It is also the second-tallest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom, after the concrete tower at the Emley Moor transmitting station.[17]
The Shard's construction began in March 2009; it was topped out on 30 March 2012[18] and inaugurated on 6 July 2012.[19] 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.[1][20][21] 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).[4][22] It was designed by the Italian architect Renzo Pianoand 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.[6]
QATAR'S ENTRY ON BOARD:
Architecture[edit]
Renzo Piano, the project's architect, designed The Shard as a spire-like sculpture emerging from the River Thames.[23] 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.[14] Piano's design met criticism from English Heritage, who claimed the building would be "a shard of glass through the heart of historic London", giving the building its name, the Shard.[34] Piano 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.[35] The building features 11,000 panes of glass, with a total surface area of 56,000 square metres (600,000 sq ft).[36]
The Shard was designed with energy efficiency in mind. It is fitted with a combined heat and power (CHP) plant, operating on natural gas from the National Grid. Fuel is efficiently converted to electricity and heat is recovered from the engine to provide hot water for the building.[37]
Following the destruction of New York's World Trade Center (WTC) in the terror attacks of 11 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 amended following the publication of the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) report into the collapse of the WTC. The building is designed to maintain its stability under very onerous conditions,[38] with its post-tensioned concrete and composite floors, load-bearing pillars and tapering shape giving it a sway tolerance of 400 millimetres (16 in).[39]
In 2014, The Shard claimed first place at the Emporis Skyscraper Awards, recognising buildings over 100 m (328 ft) completed in the previous twelve months. The Emporis judges hailed the building as "a skyscraper that is recognized immediately and which is already considered London's new emblem".[40]
Layout[edit]
| Floors | Floor area | Space designation |
|---|---|---|
| 73–95 | Spire | |
| 68–72 | 758 m2 (8,159 sq ft) | The View from The Shard (observatory) |
| 53–65 | 5,772 m2 (62,129 sq ft) | Residences |
| 34–52 | Shangri-La Hotel | |
| 31–33 | 5,945 m2 (63,991 sq ft) | Restaurants (Hutong, Oblix and Aqua Shard) |
| 28 | South Hook Gas | |
| 27 | Arma Partners | |
| 26 | 52,322 m2 (563,189 sq ft) | Offices |
| 24–25 | The Office Group | |
| 19–23 | 52,322 m2 (563,189 sq ft) | Offices |
| 18 | Gallup | |
| 17 | Warwick Business School and Foresight | |
| 16 | Al Jazeera English and Al Jazeera UK London studio and offices | |
| 15 | Mathys & Squire | |
| 14 | Duff & Phelps | |
| 10–13 | 54,488 m2 (586,504 sq ft) | Offices including Robert Half and Protiviti |
| 9 | IO Oil and Gas | |
| 8 | 54,488 m2 (586,504 sq ft) | Offices |
| 5–7 | 54,488 m2 (586,504 sq ft) | Clinic (HCA Healthcare at the Shard)[41] |
| 3–4 | 54,488 m2 (586,504 sq ft) | Offices |
| 1–2 | 6,036 m2 (64,971 sq ft) | Retail and office reception |
| Ground | Hotel, restaurant and observatory entrances |
Construction[edit]
In February 2009, a mobile crane and a small piling rig appeared on site. In early March 2009, the crane began putting steel beams into the ground, as part of preparations for the core of the building. Full construction began on 16 March 2009. Demolition work on New London Bridge House started in May 2009, as part of the concurrent London Bridge Place project. The first steelwork went into The Shard's piles on 28 April.[45] Five cranes were used to build The Shard, with four of them 'jumping' with the tower as it rose. Crane 1 was erected in September 2009 and Crane 2 was erected at the beginning of October.[46] By 20 October 2009, steel beams began appearing on site, with concrete being poured at the northern part of the site, ready for Crane 3.
By March 2010, the concrete core was rising steadily at about 3 metres (9.8 ft) a day.[47] After a pause in March–April 2010, it continued rising, reaching the 33rd floor in mid-June, almost level with the top of Guy's Hospital, which stands at 143 metres (469 ft). On 27 July 2010, the core stopped rising, having reached the 38th floor, and was reconfigured for further construction.[48] By mid-November 2010, the core had reached the 68th floor, with the tower's steel reaching the 40th floor and glass cladding enveloping a third of the building. In late November, the core's height exceeded 235 metres (771 ft), ending One Canada Square's 18-year reign as Britain's tallest building.[49]
The Shard's concrete core topped out at the 72nd floor in early 2011, standing at 245 metres (804 ft). The early part of January 2011 saw the installation of hydraulic screens, which were used to form the concrete floors of the hotel and apartment section of the tower, and rose with the floors up to the 69th floor. On 25 January 2011, the concrete pumps began pouring the first concrete floor at the 41st floor. By the end of February 2011, concrete flooring had risen to the 46th floor, with a new floor being poured on average every week. The cladding of the structure also progressed, mainly on the tower's "backpack".
August 2011 saw steady progress in construction, with cladding enveloping more than half the building's exterior. Pouring of the concrete floors reached the 67th floor, and progression on the tower's cladding reached the 58th floor. By mid-August, the core box had been removed. By 19 September 2011, the tower's steel was approaching the height of the completed core, reaching almost 244 metres (801 ft).[50] On 24 September, a final crane – at the time, the tallest ever built in Britain – was erected to install the skyscraper's upper spire.[51] The spire was pre-fabricated and pre-assembled based upon 3D models, and underwent a "test run" in Yorkshire before being lifted onto the building itself.[52] By late December 2011, The Shard had become the tallest building in the European Union, superseding the Commerzbank Tower in Frankfurt, Germany.[53]
The Shard's steel structure was topped out on 30 March 2012, when its 66-metre (217 ft), 500-tonne spire was winched into place.[54][55]The steel structure thus reached a height of 308.5 metres (1,012 ft). The final 516 panes of glass were added shortly after, topping the tower out at its full height of 309.6768 metres (1,016.000 ft).[56]
The Shard was inaugurated on 5 July 2012 by the Prime Minister of Qatar, Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, in a ceremony attended by Prince Andrew, Duke of York.[57] The inauguration ceremony featured a laser light show comprising twelve lasers and 30 searchlights, which illuminated the building on the London skyline.[19] Practical completion of the building was achieved in November 2012.
CREDITS & SOURCES:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shard
http://www.the-shard.com/shard/the-vision/
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