Engineering The Shard, London

The Shard is the tallest building in Western Europe. The 306 m high iconic tower has redefined the London skyline and is already an international symbol for London.

Location

London, United Kingdom

Client

Sellar Property

Project Status

Completed in 2012

Architect

Renzo Piano Building Workshop

The Shard was developed by Sellar Property Group in association with London Bridge Quarter Ltd and designed by the Italian architect, Renzo Piano. It is a mixed use ‘vertical city’, with 25 floors of office space, three floors of restaurants, a 17-storey hotel, 13 floors of apartments and a triple height public viewing gallery as well as a near open-air viewing floor on level 72. It is crowned with a steel-framed pinnacle clad with shards of glass designed to blend into the sky. It stands next to London Bridge Station, one of London’s busiest transport hubs, at the heart of London Bridge Quarter, London’s newest commercial quarter which is a key part of the regeneration of London’s South Bank.

floors

95 95

Glass panels

11,000 11,000

height (m)

306 306

Lifts Speed

6 m/s 6 m/s

Lifts in building

44 44

weight of the prefabricated steel spire

500-tonne 500-tonne

As structural engineer, WSP was responsible for the design of The Shard and our team was on site throughout its construction. Our priority was to design a building that would be economical and financially viable from a structural point of view, while adhering to the architectural concept of the project, and to deliver it rapidly and safely.

The Shard is designed for multi-use and is the first building of its kind in Europe. The large floorplates at the lower levels lend themselves to commercial use, while above mid-height the building’s tapering profile provides ideal floorplates for the hotel, private apartments and viewing gallery.