Italian Architect Designs UK’s Tallest Building in London

Image: Skyscraper News

The Shard building is currently being built in London and is set to be the UK’s tallest building towering above the capital’s relatively low skyline.

Scheduled to open next year, the glass Shard is the tallest building in the UK and is located on the edge of London’s financial district. Designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, the Shard stands 310 meters high and cost a reported £1.5 billion to create.

Developer Irvine Seller believes the project is a positive representation of London’s status as a global city and says, “We want this building to be a building Londoners will feel ownership of. You can eat there, you can work there, you can sleep there. And you can see the view from there.”

The tower, which is financed by the Qatar government, will include restaurants, corporate office space and even a Shangri-La luxury hotel.

The building’s glass exterior is expected to be complete sometime in June, but the building is not scheduled to open at least until early 2013. Located in a historic neighborhood of London, near the Tower of London, Shakespeare’s Globe and Borough Market, the Shard is a super-modern project 11 years in the making.

While some cringe at the thought of the towering modern building in the city, others are embracing it. Cherille McNeil-Halward runs a framing shop nearby the Shard site and says, “I like the design; I like the promise. I think it’s going to blast this neighborhood out of the water. This tower will bring people with money to spend here, and that’s got to be a good thing.”

Source: News 24

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