London’s Tallest!

The Shard, a 95-storey skyscraper in Southwark, London, the glass clad pyramidal tower with 72 floors, standing 309.6meters high is currently the tallest building in the European Union and also the second tallest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom, after the concrete tower at Emley Moor transmitting station. construction began in March 2009; it was topped out on 30 March 2012 and inaugurated on 5 July 2012. 

The newly completed 632 meters (2,073foot) tall Shanghai Tower the second-tallest building in the world (behind Dubai’s Burj Khalifa) and the tallest in China.

And taller skyscrapers are planned, such as China’s Sky City and Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Tower.

The Shard designed by Italian Architect Renzo Piano, was developed by Sellar Property on behalf of LBQ Ltd and is jointly owned by Sellar Property and the state of Qatar.

Few skyscrapers were built in London before the end of the last century, due to restrictions on building heights originally imposed by the London Building Act of 1894, which followed the construction of the 14-storey block of flat in Petty France, Westminster, Queen Anne’s Mansions. Although restrictions have long since been eased, strict regulations remain to preserve protected views, especially those of St Paul’s, the Tower of London and Palace of Westminster, and also to comply with the requirements of the Civil Aviation Authority.

The lifting of height restrictions caused a boom in the construction of tall buildings during the 1960s. One of London’s first notable tall buildings was the 117-metre Centre Point completed in 1966. The Natwest Tower (now called Tower 42) followed in 1980, which at 183 metres became London’s first genuine “skyscraper” by international standards. It was followed in 1991 by One Canada Square, which formed the centrepiece of the Canary Wharf development. Following a 10-year gap, several new skyscrapers appeared on London’s skyline: 8 Canada Square, 25 Canada Square, The Heron Quays Buildings, One Churchill Place, the Broadgate Tower and Gherkin-shaped 30 Mary axe