Le saviez-vous ? Faits marquants sur The Shard

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.