Shard London Bridge

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The Shard London Bridge — formerly known as London Bridge Tower and Shard of Glass — is a proposed skyscraper designed by Renzo Piano for a site in London, on the Southwark side of London Bridge, next to London Bridge station at 32 London Bridge Street. It would replace a twenty-four storey building, Southwark Towers, which was completed in 1976. The tower will be 310 metres (1016 feet) tall and have 72 floors. It was granted planning permission in November 2003.

When it was first announced, it was hoped that it would be the tallest building in Europe on completion. This will not be the case, however, as there is a 1115ft building already under construction in Moscow. Another huge skyscraper, the Bishopsgate Tower, was recently submitted for planning permission in London and was originally proposed to exceed the height of the Shard by a metre. However, the scheduled height of the Bishopsgate Tower has now been reduced, making the Shard set to become the tallest building in London once again.

Construction was expected to begin in 2005, with completion in 2009. However in 2004, the company PricewaterhouseCoopers, who hold a long-term lease on Southwark Towers, decided that they were not willing to vacate before 2006. This appeared to push the potential completion date back to 2011 at the earliest.

The building project will also involve major improvements to the concourse and facilities of London Bridge station. It will include shops, offices and flats as well as a museum and a public piazza. A hotel, to be operated by Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts as their first European location, is expected to take up around a fifth of the available space. In March 2006, it was rumoured that a major pre-let would soon be made on the office space as well.

Another notable feature of the building will be a public viewing gallery at the top. Since the closure of the restaurant at the top of the BT Tower in 1980, none of London's skyscrapers has been open to the public in such a way except Tower 42, which has a Champagne bar, "Vertigo 42", on its uppermost floor.

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