Wide-angle view of the Shard from opposite its mian entrance next to London Bridge Station, Southwalk.
Wide-angle view of the Shard from opposite its mian entrance next to London Bridge Station, Southwalk. The Shard, also referred to as the Shard of Glass,[ Shard London Bridge and formerly London Bridge Tower, is a 95-storey skyscraper in London. Its construction began in March 2009; it was topped out on 30 March 2012 and inaugurated on 5 July 2012. It opened to the public on 1 February 2013. Standing metres (1,016 ft) high, the Shard is the tallest building in the European Union, and the second-tallest in Europe, after the Mercury City Tower in Moscow. The Shard is also the second-tallest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom, after the concrete tower at the Emley Moor transmitting station. The Shard replaced Southwark Towers, a 24-storey 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 glass-clad pyramidal 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).
Size: 2704px × 4064px
Location: The Shard, 32 London Bridge Street, Southwalk, London.
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -, architect, bridge, entrance, escalators, glass-clad, london, piano, pyramidal, renzo, shard, skyscraper, tower, wide-angle
