It seems that the only way for urban design today is up and ‘The London Bridge Tower’, AKA ‘The Shard’ by ‘starchitect’ Renzo Piano certainly fits that picture and more. The building is a magnificent vision in steel and glass rising 310 metres above the city.
Behind the glittering walls of the towering spire-like structure are upscale offices, £50 million apartments and an opulent Shangri-La hotel. Commoners can get a piece of The Shard action – albeit at £25 a pop – at visitor attraction View From The Shard. Gaze wondrously across the entire city from 244 metres up: a 360-degree view that stretches 40 miles in each direction on a good day. There is St Paul’s like a little matchbox; trains moving into London Bridge Station like a Scalextric kit and South London housing estates as if in plan. Here on the highest habitable floor, you are endowed with that rare and magical feeling of being on top of the city but also within it. Pure poetry. / Maeve Hosea
