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 was topped out on 30 March 2012 and opened on 5 July 2012. The Shard is the tallest building in European Union, 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 is scheduled to open to the public in February 2013. The Shard was designed in 2000 by Renzo Piano, an Italian architect best known for creating Paris's Pompidou Centre in collaboration with Britain's Richard Rogers. 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. The Shard was formally opened 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. The opening ceremony featured a large laser light show, comprising twelve lasers and 30 searchlights, which illuminated the building on the London skyline. The Shard was opened with all its office floors unlet. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shard Google Maps: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=the+shard+london&hl;=en≪=51.504479,-0.086346&spn;=0.0022,0.005493&sll;=41.941459,-98.173428&sspn;=42.79221,90&t;=h&hq;=the+shard&hnear;=London,+United+Kingdom&z;=18

• published: 21 Jul 2012
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