The Shard, Skyscraper in Southwark, United Kingdom.
The Shard is a 95-storey, pyramid-shaped skyscraper of glass, steel and concrete rising 309.6 metres (1,016 ft) in Southwark, London. Its 11,000 glass panes cover 56,000 m² of facade, tapering from a broad base to a jagged, pointed summit. The lower 28 floors hold offices, with restaurants, a hotel, residences and a 72nd-floor viewing gallery above.
Renzo Piano's design replaced Southwark Towers, a 24-storey office block from 1975, after planning consent was granted in November 2003. Construction began in March 2009; the tower was topped out on 30 March 2012 and inaugurated on 5 July 2012, with the viewing deck opening on 1 February 2013. It was Europe's tallest skyscraper only from July to October 2012, when Moscow's Mercury City Tower surpassed it.
The name comes from English Heritage's objection that the tower would be "a shard of glass through the heart of historic London". Renzo Piano's design drew on the railway lines beside the site, Canaletto's London spires and sailing-ship masts. The 72nd-floor gallery and open-air deck opened as The View from The Shard on 1 February 2013.
The View from The Shard occupies the 72nd floor, with an open-air observation deck at 244 metres; the tower has 44 lifts and 306 stairs in total. The Shard Plaza at ground level has seating and shops, with direct access to the London Bridge station concourse. The spire above the 72nd floor holds plant such as air conditioning and is closed to the public.
The spire above the 72nd floor is 66 metres tall, weighs about 500 tonnes and was assembled from 800 steel parts, lifted into place by Britain's largest crane. Six of its 15 levels could be used, but they hold plant equipment such as the air conditioning and stay closed to the public.
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