Cold Shard facts: pimp up your knowledge of the UK’s tallest building

Wow your friends with this selection box of Shard trivia tidbits.

By Vanessa Teo
Last updated: May 29, 2026
The Shard London skyline

Ok, so it’s not quite the hotbed of mystery and intrigue that its near neighbor the Tower of London is, but The Shard also has its fair share of cool facts, and we’ve compiled the very best of them here for your delectation. Our list casts the net of fascination far and wide and features…

  • Famous architects!
  • Foxes!
  • Hollywood movies!
  • English Heritage!
  • Cheeky Polish usurpers!
  • … and more!

Firstly, what exactly is The Shard?

The Shard is a 72-story skyscraper modelled after a shard of glass, located in Southwark, London. Designed by renowned Italian architect Renzo Piano, and completed in 2021, The Shard has quickly become one of London's most recognizable landmarks. Visitors can take 360-degree views of the city from indoor viewing galleries on the 68th and 69th floors, or brave the open-air Skydeck way up on the 72nd.

You can check out our complete guide to visiting The View from The Shard right here.

How tall is The Shard?

View of The Shard and Tower Bridge

You came here for the Shard facts, so here they come. The Shard stands at precisely 1,016 feet – 309.6 meters – from top to bottom. The highest point you can stand at is The View from The Shard’s open-air 72nd-floor observation deck, 800 feet (244 meters) above the streets of Southwark. Unless you happen to be a maintenance worker, in which case the sky’s the limit.

Wow! So just how far can I see from up there?

Tourist at The View from The Shard

You can see for up to a whopping 40 miles, depending on a) your eyesight and b) the weather. On clear days, you should be able to pick out Windsor Castle, the Thames Estuary and the South Downs. That’s in addition to all the London landmarks you can expect to spot from up here, among them Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, St Paul’s Cathedral, the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, the O2 Arena, the BT Tower and so much more.

In cases where the weather has conjured up a pea-souper so dense that you can’t see at least three of Tower Bridge, One Canada Square, the London Eye, the Walkie Talkie and St Paul’s, you’ll be offered a free voucher for your next visit.

Is The Shard the tallest building in the world?

In a word, no. However it is still, at time of writing, the tallest building in the UK and Western Europe. It was even, for a very brief period in 2012, the tallest complete building in the whole of Europe, before being rapidly usurped by Moscow, St Petersburg and Warsaw. Our favorite of said usurpers – Warsaw’s Varso Tower – was completed in 2022 and stands mere inches taller than The Shard, at 1,017 feet (310 meters). Classic skyscraper bantz.

In terms of the rest of the world, The Shard is massively outgunned by the superskyscrapers of Asia and the Middle East. The Shanghai Tower, for example, is more than twice The Shard’s height, while Dubai’s Burj Khalifa is nearly three times its size.

How many glass pieces is The Shard made out of?

Seeing as The Shard was designed to represent a shard of glass, it's only natural that it's made of glass – 11,000 panels of the stuff, to be precise. Its distinctive facade is designed to reflect the changing colours and shapes of the sky and surrounding cityscape, creating a stunning visual effect. And the total area of that immense glass facade adds up to some 56,000 square meters, the equivalent of eight football pitches! 

Unbelievable! So, who designed The Shard?

Vertical view of The Shard

The Shard was designed by celebrated architect Renzo Piano, of Centre Pompidou and Whitney Museum of American Art renown. It’s said he originally scribbled his design on a napkin in the year 2000. When English Heritage got wind of Piano’s plans they were suitably appalled, saying it would be like "a shard of glass through the heart of historic London." Piano was so tickled by the insult that he named the building after it.

But it wasn't always known by this name. It was once known, rather prosaically, as the London Bridge Tower. You might also occasionally still hear it referred to as the Shard of Glass or Shard London Bridge, but almost everyone nowadays knows it as, simply, The Shard.

What's inside the Shard?

The View from The Shard occupies the 68th, 69th and 72nd floors, featuring indoor and outdoor viewing galleries and interactive exhibits that tell the story of the Shard's construction and design.

The open-air Skydeck on the 72nd floor features state-of-the-art telescopes that provide close-up views of the city's famous landmarks, including Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, St Paul's Cathedral, and the London Eye. You can visit all of these and many more with your London Pass, which can save you up to 50% versus buying individual tickets at each attraction.

The Shard is also home to several bars and restaurants, plus offices, residential apartments for the super-rich, and even a hotel – the luxurious Shangri-La The Shard.

How fast are the elevators at The Shard?

There are 36 elevators in The Shard. Passenger lifts travel at a speed of six meters per second – roughly the same as the Empire State Building and Top of the Rock in New York – meaning you can reach the top in under 60 seconds. You might even feel your ears pop on the way up!

Is it true The Shard… moves?

You really do know your stuff! Yes, the ‘shards’ of glass that make up the spire don’t actually quite touch one another, allowing the building to ‘breathe’. The spire is also designed to sway up to 30–40cm when battered by extreme winds, to prevent the structure from cracking.

Who was Romeo the fox?

A fox in London

An urban fox of some renown around the streets of London, Romeo made The Shard’s 72nd floor his home during construction in 2011, living off scraps left behind by workers. He’s thought to have entered via one of the stairwells and climbed all the way up to his sweet new penthouse crib. It took the local council two weeks to safely capture and release Romeo back onto the streets of Bermondsey, where his name lives on as the stuff of urban (fox) legend. 

Romeo remains a mascot of The Shard and miniature plush versions of him can be bought at the gift shop, with proceeds supporting local charities.

Is it true The Shard existed in movies before it existed in real life?

Amazingly, yes. Dystopian drama Children of Men, set in 2027 and starring Clive Owen and Julianne Moore, came out in 2006 and features shots of The Shard soaring above London’s city skyline. Having not yet been built in real life, it was digitally inserted based on a scale model. Futuristic or what?

Blimey, anything else?

There’s plenty more for the dedicated fact-digger to discover. Here are a few more tidbits to set you off on the right track…

  1. Around 95% of the materials used in The Shard’s construction are recycled. 
  2. The Shard has its own combined heat and power plant (CHP) to meet the building's needs.
  3. Even the toilets here are a thrill. At 244 meters above ground their floor-to-ceiling windows have earned them the accolade of 'most Instagrammable loos in town'.
  4. Down the years, dozens of people have abseiled, climbed and BASE jumped – both legally and illegally – from The Shard. Happily, no fatalities have been reported to date.

Phew! Anything else can I do near The Shard?

Donuts at Borough Market

Yes, loads. The Shard is right on the river in London Bridge, meaning it’s just a short way from several more bucket-list London attractions, many of which are included with The London Pass.

  • Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre: Raise the curtain on this reconstructed Elizabethan wonder with a guided tour.
  • Tower of London: Murder, mystery, intrigue and… ravens await at this medieval marvel, home to the eye-popping Crown Jewels.
  • Tower Bridge: A classic selfie spot, you can also stroll the elevated glass walkway between those iconic gothic towere.
  • Golden Hinde: Step aboard a full-size reconstruction of Sir Francis Drake’s legendary galleon.
  • Borough Market: If there’s a finer smorgasbord of global street foods, farm-fresh cheeses, massive donuts, trad pubs and damn fine coffee anywhere in London, we’ve yet to find it.

Enjoyed this? Discover the five records you’ll break just by visiting The Shard and read our complete guide to visiting Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.

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Vanessa Teo
London Travel Expert

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