- The Shard occupies over 30 acres of space, developed on 1 acre of land, approximately 1.2 million sq ft gross. - There are 306 flights of stairs and 44 lifts in the building. - The building incorporates some of the most advanced architectural technology into its revolutionary design, which allows the Shard to move up to 20 inches in high winds. - 54,000 m3 of concrete were used to build the Shard, equivalent to 22 Olympic swimming pools. The construction of the 4-metre (13-foot) thick basement raft took 36 hours and 700 truckloads. - During the peak construction phase, 1,450 construction workers were employed on site, representing 60 nationalities.
- Renzo Piano says: “the shape of the tower is generous at the bottom and narrow at the top, disappearing in the air like a 16 th century pinnacle or the mast top of a very tall ship. The architecture is firmly based on the historic form of London’s masts and spired”. - To ensure a smooth installation, the structure of the Spire (levels 75–95), was first assembled at a factory in Yorkshire where it was fabricated, taken to pieces and reassembled on site. - Although 95 storeys high, the highest floor accessible to visitors is level 72, the upper Viewing gallery , which is 244m (800 ft) high. On a clear day, the views extend to approximately 55 km (35 miles) in each direction – fromHeathrow (west) to the Thames estuary (east).
- Back while The Shard was being built, a brave young fox cub affectionately dubbed ‘ Romeo ’ by the builders, managed to get up to the top floors and roam free, surviving purely on lunch scraps. - Seen as a good omen by the hotel’s Asian owners, Romeo is now the mascot for all things ‘Shard’. - The concept for the cuddly toy was originally created by the hotel in celebration, to be sold with proceeds benefiting ‘The Blackfriars Settlement ’, a charity that provides community services in the area local to the hotel. - Romeo the Fox also features on the children’s menu in Ting. All the illustrations of Romeo and his adventures have been created by a member of the Shangri-La family.
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