The Shard: Glass Icon in a Historic City

Standing 800 feet above ground level on the 72nd floor of the Shard, it feels surprisingly safe, chic and more classy than the Eiffel Tower or the Rockefeller.

Many think the Shard looks unfinished. Project architect William Matthews explained, “we really wanted the idea that the building actually tapered and sort of disappeared into the sky in some way.” © The View from The Shard

Standing 800 feet above ground level on the 72nd floor of the Shard, it feels surprisingly safe. It’s chic, more classy than the Eiffel Tower or the Rockefeller, with an atmosphere that is somehow reminiscent of Tokyo’s Mori Tower in Roppongi Hills. 

Gazing down from what is now Europe’s second highest building, the trains look like worms crawling towards London Bridge, and landmarks like Tower Bridge are oddly flattened and shrunk.