The company has placed the last piece of steel, a 66m tall spire weighing about 500 tonnes, at the top of the building. The spire consisted of 800 separate pieces of steel and was constructed at ground level at Dalton Airfield in Yorkshire and was then dismantled and transported to London, where it was again assembled.
It was placed on top of the building’s concrete core. The shard will be cladded with 516 glass panes, while the entire building will have a cladding of 11,000 panes. Exterior work of the facility is scheduled for completion in June 2012.
The Shard is referred to as Vertical Town and will include commercial space, retail space, leisure facilities, hotels and private residential units. The scheme is being developed by the Sellar Property Group. The building has been designed by Italy-based architectural practice Renzo Piano and will be 310m tall.
