Shard / London Bridge Tower | Southwark | 309m | 72 fl

[wjfox]

London Bridge Tower - the "Shard of Glass"
Southwark

Height: 310m | Floors: 72 | Architect: Renzo Piano | Developer: Sellar Property Group

Links: WSP Shard brochure | Official website | Renzo Piano Building Workshop | Skyscrapernews listing | Station redevelopment

Notes:

• This landmark tower will be the first building in the UK to break the 1000 foot barrier. It will be nearly twice the height of the Gherkin,
  and one of the tallest buildings in Europe.
• London's first truly "mixed use" tower, the floors will be divided into a mixture of residential, office, hotel, retail and public space.
• Following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the tower was structurally redesigned to improve stability and reduce evacuation times.
• The tower went through a lengthy public inquiry. It was approved by the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, on 19th November 2003.
• The total cost of the project is in excess of £1.2bn and includes major refurbishment of the neighbouring train and bus stations.
• The tower has two main tenants lined up - Shangri-La Hotels, who will be occupying floors 34-52 - and Transport for London who will
  take some of the office space.
• Financial issues plagued the tower for years, but were resolved in 2008 when four Qatari banks took an 80% stake
  in the project (buying-out both CLS and Simon Halabi). All funding and contracts were subsequently secured.

Current Status:
Under construction! Click here for a video of the schedule. The tower will be topped-out in late 2010 and is scheduled for practical completion by May 2012.












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Thread landmarks

24th Nov 2006 - PwC staff informed that they will vacate Southwark Towers

15th Nov 2007 - Mace chosen to build the Shard

10th Jan 2008 - CLS Holdings sells stake in the Shard

18th Jan 2008 - Halabi sells stake in the Shard

22nd Jan 2008 - Sellar Property Group sets up Qatari consortium to carry out the Shard development

24th Mar 2008 - 'White sheet of death' appears on Southwark Towers

12th Feb 2009 - Demolition of Southwark Towers structure complete

23rd Feb 2009 - Mace secures contract to build the Shard

16th Mar 2009 - Shard officially starts construction

17th Mar 2009 - First piling rig

18th Sep 2009 - First steel column

19th Sep 2009 - Installation of Tower Crane 1

1st Oct 2009 - Installation of Tower Crane 2

10th Oct 2009 - First concrete pillars

25th May 2010 - First glass panel of the external envelope

[Jamandell (d69)]

Thanks for starting this!
I'm still fascinated by the prospect of that large spike going half way up the height of the tower.

And wouldn't it be lovely if we at some point got one of those ultra-realistic renders like the one for 122 Leadenhall?

[jimbo]

is this the 2nd official thread, or the 3rd? Not sure we'll be up to the level of the Burj Dubai which had about 10 1000 page threads before it even started construction. Mind you, if its another year till PwC exit, and they get Southwark Towers down then we might be onto another Shard London Bridge thread. One can start to get a teensy impatient!

[St. Anger]

some rich people should buy PwC and disband them so we can get a move on with this lol

surely they can't sleep at night knowing what building they're holding up by being there

[gothicform]

lol PWC are one of the biggest privately owned companies in the world... i think forbes ranks them third.

[metro]

they aint tesco's or asda though.

if they were id be worried. my views on the on the people who run the company are unprintable but anyway.. i wish they'd grow up

[and-r]

Originally Posted by metro

they aint tesco's or asda though.

if they were id be worried. my views on the on the people who run the company are unprintable but anyway.. i wish they'd grow up

pwc are massive, they have headquaters throughout the world theyre much bigger than tesco as a company. and no developer with sanity would try a just kick them out of anywhere. burning bridges with companies like pwc is never a good idea

[jef]

PWC is believed to be about to pre-let the last site in the More London development
(More London 7, 400,000 sq ft) as their new london office HQ with delivery
date planned in 2009. Preparation works are underway at More London 7.

Meanwhile PwC has a 100,00 sq ft requirement to relocate the staff
due to leave Southwarks Towers. PwC is said to be close to sub-letting either Bankside 1
from IPC Medias or Bishops Square from Allen & Overy.

[and-r]

cheers for the info jef. not really suprised theyve chosen the more london 7 as headquaters. i dont think an accountancy firm would ever warrent pating extra for the sake of being in a landmark building

[jimbo]

Originally Posted by St. Anger

some rich people should buy PwC and disband them so we can get a move on with this lol

surely they can't sleep at night knowing what building they're holding up by being there

I do wonder what planet some people are on.

[jimbo]

Originally Posted by jef

PWC is believed to be about to pre-let the last site in the More London development
(More London 7, 400,000 sq ft) as their new london office HQ with delivery
date planned in 2009. Preparation works are underway at More London 7.

Meanwhile PwC has a 100,00 sq ft requirement to relocate the staff
due to leave Southwarks Towers. PwC is said to be close to sub-letting either Bankside 1
from IPC Medias or Bishops Square from Allen & Overy.

the voice of reason and knowledge! I don't see one piece of bad news in that post. Providing the terms are equitable, I'd plump for Bankside 123, PwC already have a big presence south of the river, and I think that this simply consolidates it and adds to the impetus in Southwark. Or something like that.

[mole]

Originally Posted by gothicform

lol PWC are one of the biggest privately owned companies in the world... i think forbes ranks them third.

That's not the case. PwC, like the other big accounting firms, is not a single company - it is a series of partnership firms that operate under a common brand but exist as legally separate entities in each country.

[deanfwj]

Have any of you guys seen the plans for Borough Market? I beleive it's part of the Shard of glass scheme..anyway in Fridays Southwark News, they have a pic of what they plan it to be like...basically it's like a crap Tesco glass front thing..no imagination absoloutely disgusting..I'm praying this doesn't get approval because it will scar this area irreperably forever...The area they plan to do this to has some fantastic little Georgian/Victorian buildings..surely they must be protected..right?

Sorry for the poor quality of the pic, and if I've posted this in the wrong place.

[Medo]

That would totally ruin the character of Borough Market. It will become like a shopping mall.

[El_Greco]

^I agree.Borough Market is great I love it.It has character.

[Smoggie_Si]

Originally Posted by jimbo

I do wonder what planet some people are on.

Planet Naive in a lot of cases it seems!

[Smoggie_Si]

Originally Posted by deanfwj

Have any of you guys seen the plans for Borough Market? I beleive it's part of the Shard of glass scheme..anyway in Fridays Southwark News, they have a pic of what they plan it to be like...basically it's like a crap Tesco glass front thing..no imagination absoloutely disgusting..I'm praying this doesn't get approval because it will scar this area irreperably forever...The area they plan to do this to has some fantastic little Georgian/Victorian buildings..surely they must be protected..right?

Sorry for the poor quality of the pic, and if I've posted this in the wrong place.

Borough Market is threatened by the Crossrail plans I believe.

[DarJoLe]

Originally Posted by Smoggie_Si

Borough Market is threatened by the Crossrail plans I believe.

Thameslink.

And no, it isn't threatened. They are building a new viaduct which means the removal of a couple of buildings, and a new rail line straddling the eastern end of the Market.

Granted, the design of the new viaduct is atrocious, but Borough Market certainly isn't being destroyed.

And anyway, after the Shard is built the area is destined to become the new Islington or Canary Wharf, with stripmalls and gated communities a go-go, so at the end of the day, the market will either have to adapt or die, just like other commercial enterprises have done throughout London's history.

[Smoggie_Si]

Originally Posted by DarJoLe

Thameslink.

And no, it isn't threatened. They are building a new viaduct which means the removal of a couple of buildings, and a new rail line straddling the eastern end of the Market.

Granted, the design of the new viaduct is atrocious, but Borough Market certainly isn't being destroyed.

OK well that's good news!

Originally Posted by DarJoLe

And anyway, after the Shard is built the area is destined to become the new Islington or Canary Wharf, with stripmalls and gated communities a go-go, so at the end of the day, the market will either have to adapt or die, just like other commercial enterprises have done throughout London's history.

I think that Borough Market has been rather successful with adapting, it certainly seems to fit well with the Jamie Oliver, organic food zeitgeist and is absolutely rammed on a Saturday.

Why will the Shard turn Borough into the new Islington or Canary Wharf? They seem rather polar opposite areas! Believe me there's already plenty of gated communities around SE1, the Jam Factory being a prime example, and property prices have been going absolutely mental over the last year or so, SE1 is an area with its own definate character, not comparable with Islington and certainly not with Canary Wharf, it's got a nice blend of City workers and creatives. Local developers have been trying to rebrand the Bermondsey Street area as Bermondsey Village and have labelled it the new Hoxton Square, a very lazy comparison and I'm pleased to report that the Garrison is yet to be overrun by Nathan Barley types!

[mulattokid]

Didnt they film ' The pride of Ms Gene Brody here"? What was her catch phrase?


Tubeman.....I lied!