With construction beginning back in February 2010, The Shard now sits pretty as the tallest tower in Western Europe. An architectural masterpiece, The Shard was designed by Renzo Piano and it has been suggested that it was designed to look like an iceberg, which it does strongly resemble. The Shard stands at 1,000 feet with a colossal 72 floors and certainly makes quite an impact. It is due to open in 2013, and will include a five star hotel, a range of restaurants, office space and residential apartments. It will also contain observation decks on each floor, where visitors can soak up the fantastic sites of London at 360 degrees. The Shard was opened to the back drop of a laser show, with Boris Johnson and Prince Andrew being amongst the special guests at the event.
Construction
The construction of The Shard was no mean fete; it took a lot of manpower and plenty of materials to get it to the structure it resembles today. The core of the building is made up of steel beams, with a grand total of 500 tonnes being used to secure it into the ground. There were also five cranes used to erect the building, as well as 100,000 tonnes of concrete. The building also contains a massive 11,468 panels of glass. The images of the construction of The Shard have showed workers hanging from the side of the massive building. It is difficult to work out whether to feel sorry for them or jealous that they are able to take in all the glorious views.
Cost
The Shard may look breath-taking, but it has also come at a huge cost. It is estimated that the total cost has amounted to £450 million. The area around the building has also been revamped in the process, which is said to have pushed the cost to as much as £1.5 billion. The economic downturn almost prevented the project from getting off the ground, but with the help of financing from Qatar, it eventually went ahead. The cost of the project is bound to be far outweighed by the potential profits it can bring in to the economy. The office space and residential apartments have the possibility of being sold for millions of pounds, and it is looking likely that the cost of a family of four to visit The Shard could be as high as £90.
You can imagine that the plumbing bills of The Shard will be above average, but if you are looking for a professional service for your home, visit www.london-drainage.com/ for more information.
The Shard: Not Your Average Plumbing Bill
