The Shard Tower in London

[teuchter]

Here's my guess:

The current station has 9 terminating platforms and 6 through. The new station will have 6 terminating and 6 through. Therefore, the first platforms to close will be the middle three. They'll demolish them right down to 'basement' level, then build the new bridge over to carry the tracks right through (this will join up with the new viaduct that expands the westbound capacity, if I understand things right). Access to the platforms will continue to be from above via the bridge.

Then they'll carry on closing, demolishing and rebuilding the other platform sections in groups of three/four. During all this time, access will be from above. Only when all the new bridges are in place will they start constructing the new concourse underneath them.

Yes, that seems most likely.

So the new station will have fewer platforms than now? I thought the idea was to convert some of the terminating ones into through ones?

 

[Crispy]

oops, I meant 6 terminating and 9 through. 9:6 -> 6:9 - no reduction in paltforms, but an increase in through capacity.

 

[Crispy]

Actual construction has really started now, there's piling rigs on site and chomping dirt I stopped by briefly on my way in to work. It's really worth a look, it's such a busy site, and the ravaged stubs of the surrounding buildings are a sight in themselves.

 

[kyser_soze]

Actual construction has really started now, there's piling rigs on site and chomping dirt I stopped by briefly on my way in to work. It's really worth a look, it's such a busy site, and the ravaged stubs of the surrounding buildings are a sight in themselves.

I'm coming thru London Bridge on my way home this evening, so I'll have a mosey on over. They got lots of clear window things in the hoardings around the site?

 

[Crispy]

No need to wedge your eye up to a little window, you can see the whole site clear, from an elevated (ie station concourse) level. From the bus station outisde the concourse, you can't miss it - there's a steel bridge that takes you round to Guy's.

For example

 

[editor]

I can't wait for this thing to start taking shape.

 

[cybertect]

just what London needs, more fucking shops and the loss of a unique art space.

cunts (if true)

And by the looks of it, Winston Churchill's Britain at War Experience is going to disappear too.

Philistines!

 

[paolo]

This is my hood.

Going. To be. Fucking. Awesome.

 

[brixtonvilla]

This is my hood.

Going. To be. Fucking. Awesome.

Without having read the thread, can I ask why? I think the Shard is way oversized for the area, and is going to look very odd stuck on its own with no tall buildings around it.

 

[Maggot]

When is the SEOne club going to disappear?

I'm supposed to be DJing there in June!

 

[Crispy]

Not for ages. the tower gets built first, and the new rail viaduct over borough market at some point. Only then will they rebuild the station. Not till 2013 at the earliest.

 

[teuchter]

Although Shunt is supposedly going to be gone within a matter of months.

 

[editor]

Wooh! Check out this super sci-fi mockup of the viewing platform on the Shard.

The platform spans three stories a third of the way up the 100-story building and offers a 360-degree view from 244 metres - twice as high as the London Eye.

http://londonist.com/2009/05/the_shard_room_for_a_view.php

 

[teuchter]

If the tower is already that slender a third of the way up, I can't imagine there's much usable floorspace above about halfway. And if you're already at 244 metres a third of the way up...

I think someone has got a bit muddled somewhere.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

If the tower is already that slender a third of the way up, I can't imagine there's much usable floorspace above about halfway. And if you're already at 244 metres a third of the way up...

I think someone has got a bit muddled somewhere.

Maybe they'll only let a limited amount of people up there each day.

I think the Petronas only lets the first 300 people each day in the queue up to the skybridge

 

[g force]

Indeed could be in the "final third" of the building...

 

[editor]

If the tower is already that slender a third of the way up, I can't imagine there's much usable floorspace above about halfway. And if you're already at 244 metres a third of the way up...

I think someone has got a bit muddled somewhere.

No, the rest of the building will have a single room per floor with the broom cupboard at the top.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

No, the rest of the building will have a single room per floor with the broom cupboard at the top.

That'll be a nightmare for the cleaner if the lift breaks down

 

[cybertect]

Indeed could be in the "final third" of the building...

The platform, which spans three stories a third of the way up the 100-story building, will offer a 360-degree view of the capital from a maxium height of 244 metres

...

Work on the 'scraper, which at 310m will be the tallest in western Europe

244/310 = 0.79.

i.e. about 4/5 of the way up the building, which is a much more sensible place for a viewing platform of the tallest building in Europe.

1/3 (~100m) up would barely be worth the bother. Tower 42 (AKA the NatWest Tower) is 183m tall.

 

[_pH_]

Some pics wot i took today:

that's a very busy construction site!

 

[upsidedownwalrus]

That building is going to be awesome! It's about time London had some properly stunning modern buildings. My wife said when she visited that she couldn't believe she was in London; to her it all felt like a village

 

[Crispy]

There's some excellent photos on skyscrapercity.com where a small crane/forklift is being shifted around the site by one of the big tower cranes It really is the densest and busiet construction site I've seen.

 

[teuchter]

244/310 = 0.79.

i.e. about 4/5 of the way up the building, which is a much more sensible place for a viewing platform of the tallest building in Europe.

1/3 (~100m) up would barely be worth the bother. Tower 42 (AKA the NatWest Tower) is 183m tall.

If the shard viewing platform is higher than it, shouldn't the top of Tower 42 in the background of that photomontage be below the horizon?

 

[Crispy]

Not neccesarily

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

There's some excellent photos on skyscrapercity.com where a small crane/forklift is being shifted around the site by one of the big tower cranes It really is the densest and busiet construction site I've seen.

I love Skyscrapercity but it's soooooooooooooo slow because of all the pictures on it

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Anyone been keeping their eye on the new Park Plaza hotel on the roundabout before Westminster Bridge

I'd hate to be the window cleaner What is the point of all those little sheets of coloured glass anyway - just to take away from the boredom of looking at the same coloured glass all the way round

 

[teuchter]

Anyone been keeping their eye on the new Park Plaza hotel on the roundabout before Westminster Bridge

I'd hate to be the window cleaner What is the point of all those little sheets of coloured glass anyway - just to take away from the boredom of looking at the same coloured glass all the way round

"Decoration" is the term I think although the designers will probably have made up some kind of rationalisation for them.

Haven't seen the pictures for that before. Looks a little disappointing really. Although perhaps that atrium thing cut through the middle could be quite cool.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

"Decoration" is the term I think although the designers will probably have made up some kind of rationalisation for them.

Haven't seen the pictures for that before. Looks a little disappointing really. Although perhaps that atrium thing cut through the middle could be quite cool.

It added a large amount of cranes to the skyline against the backdrop of the London Eye. I quite miss them now

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

It has over 1000 bedrooms and a pillarless ballroom big enough to house an Olympic sized swimming pool apparently

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Some pics here

http://www.buj.com/