The Shard: A Year in Photos

When construction first began on The Shard back in 2009, it seemed like 2012 was a long, long way away.  It has been just over a year since The Shard first began peeking out over rooftops in the London Bridge area and a full year since I started taking photos.  So, without further ado, I present you a year of photos of The Shard.  Click on any of the photos for an enlargement.

 

March 2010

 

In March 2010, the building was about 18 levels high.  All that we could see was the central core and while there was a framework around the bottom 7 levels or so, there was not much to see down there yet.

 

April 2010

 

By April 2010, The Shard began to dominate the sky as you walked out of London Bridge Station forecourt.  In just one month, they had made incredible progress and the framework for the lower levels and lobby seemed to be complete, as was the framework for the first three concrete floors.  The core had reached about 20 levels (it is difficult to see how much more has been built under the Mace banner).

 

May 2010

 

In just three weeks from April 30 to May 20, 2010, the core had shot up 7 levels to 27 levels.  Work on the concrete floors (which I increasingly began to view as either a ‘skirt’ or cake layers) continued to five floors.

 

August 2010

 

For a period of time, there didn’t appear to be any discernible difference in the progress of The Shard, but over the summer of 2010, the core rose to 37 levels and the outer layers really did begin to look like the skirt of a flamenco dress with all of that red and black.  If you look at the photo below-right, you will also see that the building began to extend slightly to the east.

The glass work began to be visible above the tops of buildings later in the year and the bottom levels were lit up to look like a Christmas tree.  I wish I had taken a photo of that but was far too cold and miserable to be taking out my camera!

 

January 2011

 

By January 2011, The Shard had begun to dominate the London skyline.  The core had reached its highest level at level 72 and the concrete floors had reached to about level 44.  The glass cladding had reached about level 35.

 

February 2011

 

The concrete floors reached level 46 by the end of February and the glass cladding continued to be completed around the building.  Attention was given to the extended blocks to the east of the building.

 

March 2011

 

By the end of March 2011, the concrete floors had reached level 50 and the cladding was complete to level 38.  The work on the extended blocks was mostly completed and I imagine it will simply be onwards and upwards now until the building is completed.

I certainly cannot wait until the observation deck is complete and look forward to one final year of Shard watching.  The Shard is currently the tallest building in London and the United Kingdom and exceeded One Canada Square in late November 2010.

The Shard, London Bridge

The Shard is beginning to take my breath away with ever-increasing frequency.  It is an absolutely stunning building and looks far more classy than I ever imagined it would.  I cannot wait until it is finished.

MyCommunity Competition: My Southwark

Yesterday morning, the Eternal Tourist (yours truly) took a self-guided walking tour around Southwark which is the little area in which I work.  It is tucked beneath London Bridge and spreads around Borough High Street all the way to Borough Station.  I think it is safe to say that I am rather enamoured with this historic and understated area and I jumped at the chance to take part in the MyCommunity Contest over at Gumtree.

It has all been quite exciting really. On Saturday morning, I received a mysterious package in the mail. I was thrilled to discover a small digital camera, a Moleskine notebook, a pencil and instructions to capture the very best of my community.  I decided to focus on Southwark because I was long overdue on a photowalk and I had promised you all some more photos of Southwark Cathedral. 

The photos I took are attached in the slide show above and once the competition is over, I'll tell you all about them in more detail and take you on your very own personal photowalk!

For now, I need your help and support!  Success in the competition is based on the number of (relevant) comments I get on this post and over at the forum at Gumtree.

Please can you visit my entry My Southwark at Gumtree and either leave a comment here or on my forum listing there.  Tell me about your own experiences in Southwark – have you been to Borough Food Market or Southwark Cathedral?  Can you tell me something about Southwark I didn’t already know?  What do you think of the photographs?  What will you get in return?  Why, I’ll be posting a personal thank you note with links to your blogs at the end of the week.

Next week will be a bumper filled Southwark week here on Emm in London because not only will I be posting the photos above, I’ll also be posting an update on The Shard development too.  Stay tuned and help me win the competition please!

The Shard and London Bridge Quarter

There is no doubt about it.  The Shard is going to be absolutely exquisite when it is finished in 2012.  Here are some press images that were released a couple of years ago.  You can see more plus videos and models at the site London Bridge Quarter - The Shard - London Bridge Place.

The skyline will be greatly altered (you can click on the image for a larger resolution).

The Shard will emerge from behind City Hall and will look like a shard of glass going into the sky.

We will finally be able to walk along the street level again and on the piazzas between the buildings.

The Shard will feature super snazzy apartments…

… and state of the art offices.

When The Shard is competed in 2012, it will be the tallest skyscraper in the United Kingdom.  It will stand at 310 metres tall (1,017 feet) and will have 72 floors plus 15 radiator floors on the roof. 

The project architect is Renzo Piano and he has designed the building to look like a shard of glass.  The building will have a public viewing gallery at the top and is expected to draw two million visitors a year.  I’d just like to put it out there that I would love to be amongst the privileged group of people that gets to preview the viewing deck. 

I, for one, cannot wait to see it when it is finished.  I do, however, find it makes me think rather silly things.  For example, “Oh look! There is even place for the Four Horsemen to land” and “We have a Gherkin, an Onion and now we have a Toothpick!”  I will try my best not to come up with any more witty remarks.

The Shard Update March 2010

I was absolutely convinced that I had posted about the Shard and London Bridge Quarter before but all I can find is one tiny mention in a post from October 2008.  Oh well, here is a really big update then seeing as I haven’t told you anything about it before (and if any of you can find more in my archives, you can be my best friend!)

The Shard and London Bridge Quarter is the development that is currently taking place right outside of London Bridge station.  It is taking forever to go up but when it is completed in 2012, it will be the tallest building in the United Kingdom.  When finished, it will look like a shard of glass.  I know in 5 years time, it will seem impossible that this place was a giant construction site for four whole years so I would you to give you an idea of how it looks now.

Taken from the platform at London Bridge rail station.

Taken from the front entrance of London Bridge station.

Taken from the stairs by Guys Hospital.

A view of the lower level.

Taken much later that afternoon from inside Guy’s hospital grounds.  This is my favourite photo.

Come back next Tuesday for an update on what the Shard will look like in the future!

Where I work: My walk to work in the mornings part 1

For quite some time I have wanted to write about my walk to work in the mornings and what better time than when I am stuck in bed with a stomach bug?  Being a nostalgic type of person, I often pick up on items in my daily life that I will remember fondly in times to come.  This walk and the sites I see will be among those memories.

I exit London Bridge station through the bottom entrance that runs between London Bridge Rail and London Bridge Underground Stations.  To the left of where this photograph was taken is where the Shard and London Bridge Quarter are being constructed.  This is a really exciting development that is going to change the face of the London skyline, so check out the link!

I often stop by at the McDonalds for coffee.  I am not really a coffee drinker but I like the taste of McDonalds latte.  I try not to overdo it though - coffee make me bounce off the walls for hours on end and so I restrict it to once or twice a week.

I find it exciting to walk through Guy's Hospital every day.  Guy's is a very famous teaching hospital and I can't help but be reminded of E.R. and Grey's Anatomy when I walk through here.

I walk right through the centre of King's College every day and I think it is so beautiful.  I love the massive trees and the old building to the right there.  Right at the bottom you can see the World War I war memorial.  I quite enjoy looking at war memorials - I find them to be haunting and beautiful. 

One thing I have noticed - there seem to be so many more memorials for the first world war than for the second world war.  Is this because people were tired of remembering the dead by the time the second war came about (in the sense that they were exhausted and emotionally shattered)?  There seem to be no memorials for the war dead of recent times either.

In my quest to avoid the crowds on Borough High Street, I continue my walk through a Southwark council housing estate.  There are many estates in much worse condition in England - many are just concrete skyscraper tenement blocks with no facilities for children and high rates of social problems and crime.  Still, I can't help but look at this and compare it to some of the poverty I have seen in South Africa or the rest of the world.  English people are luckier than they realise and as I am lucky enough to be able to vote here, I guess I would vote for whichever party wanted to maintain this standard of living.

The second to last attraction on my walk is the Southwark Coroner's Court.  The most infamous case to be heard by the court recently is the Jean Charles de Menezes inquest but that is being in special sessions in the Oval cricket Ground and not actually the court itself.