Architect’s focus
“I HOPE PEOPLE VISIT THE SHARD BECAUSE THEY’RE INTERESTED IN THE BUILDING, AS WELL AS THE VIEW. WE’LL KNOW IF IT’S WORKED IN FIVE YEARS’ TIME”
Above: Matthews sees the shard as a 21st layer to a very old city; Below: the
shard hosts a mix of offices, apartments, restaurant, hotel and viewing gallery
Getting tenants was another challenge.
The client had to get some to prove the viability of the building. Fortunately, they got two tenants early on – Shangri-La took the hotel in 2005 and Transport for London took office space in 2006. The biggest challenge was financing the building. The client had financing in place in 2008, then the credit crunch came and the funding was withdrawn. Fortunately, at that time, the Qatari gov- ernment had also been interested and they stepped in as both investors and financiers. So they gave us the mortgage and bought the house as well. Of the four hurdles – planning, get-
ting tenants, financing and building it – building was the easiest bit as, weather permitting, we could just get on with it. We have a big, experienced, knowledge- able team who are used to constructing
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tall buildings. It’d probably be more of a challenge for us to do a kitchen exten- sion, as we’re not used to it!
What’s the evacuation process? Post 9/11 people are much more aware of evacuation strategies. We use the lifts to get people out – they have a back up power generation and smoke pressure relief and are quick and safe. With a mixed-use building it’s a chal-
lenge because everyone has their own lift banks: there are 43 altogether.
How does the architecture enhance the experience? You could argue that you could see the view from the top of a beanpole, but I think the building is important. Consider the Rockefeller Center and the Empire State Building. In many ways the
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Rockefeller’s view is better because you can see Central Park and the Empire State Building, but the latter gets many more visitors because it’s an iconic building. Similarly, in Paris, the Tour Montparnasse is a horrible building – it’s the only skyscraper in Paris and went up in the early 1970s – so, despite its great view, it gets a fraction of the visitors that the Eiffel Tower does. I hope people come to visit The Shard
because they’re interested in the building, as well as the view. We’ll only know if it’s worked in five or
six years’ time if people are wearing The Shard T-shirts and if it’s viewed as an image worthy of London – a 21st-century layer to a very old city. l
William Matthews is project architect at Renzo Piano Building Workshop
AM 1 2013 ©cybertrek 2013
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