Generally, mega-buildings have become an influencing element in the modern society today. In the sense of mega-buildings being major icons of cities and even nations. However, the existence of such buildings raised questions on their impact on urban life and environmental sustainability. As a result, new generation mega buildings have come up. Which are more energy conservative and are more sustainable compared to the former. This paper will specifically discuss The Shard building which was designed by Renzo Piano with a critical eye on its sustainability and the impact on the local community.
The Shard building which is in Southwark London was designed by an architect of Italian origin by name Renzo Piano. The building has 92 stories standing at a height of approximately 310 meters. Construction of the Shard building began in March 2009
(Parker, J 2012) and was completed in November 2012.The building hosts offices, restaurants, hotels, residential apartments and observatories.
Hence, to test environment sustainability of the Shard building environmental assessment methods such as the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment method and the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design method come into play. Therefore, a comparison between the two methods is necessary to see the environmental sustainability (Kawazu, et al. 2005). through the comprehensive assessment system for built environmental efficiency criteria was formed based on the following six categories to test buildings on sustainability:
The interior of the shard building varies depending on the height to meet specific characteristics that are important for use at each level. For instance, the lower levels of the building are made to be largely creating ample space for more service areas. In the upper levels the case changes, acoustic separation of floors become more important. Therefore, fewer ceiling services were used.
Since the building is rather tall it is seen from was creating an appealing look. Unfortunately, this is not the opinion at all; it also covers the line of sight of other areas of the city causing a destruction of view (Rabon, J 2015). The building comes in the line of sight of the St. Paul Cathedral a major icon in the United Kingdom history
Considerably, the building was built to have a low carbon emission to the environment. With a built-in power plant containing generators that are housed in the acoustic enclosure in the basement. The power plant provides enough electricity and hot water for the building and surplus for supply in the surrounding area (Clarke Energy, 2012).
To the neighboring street which is larger community residential area, the shard building creates a shadow. Impacting the general fall in the price of properties within that area. Prices of such areas dropping to as much as half the original.
Winds hitting the building at high speeds create a place of high pressure to the ground levels resulting in a cool effect even during the presence of an open sun.
The core
Due to the existence of other infrastructure in the construction of the sub-structure proved to be rather difficult (Engineers Journal, 2016). To take care of this challenge the 3level basement was constructed top-down. This was achieved using plunge columns in wet concrete. Foundation of the building sinking up to 50metres. The core then was built out of concrete rising to the 72levels after this level a steel mast is used together with floor plates made from pre-stressed concrete. Which is to overcome the inherent concrete weakness.
The core is however not solid since it contains lifts, stairways and shafts which reduce in number as the building narrows towards the top.
The Spire
The vision of the architect of was to let building merge with the sky. Consequently, this led to the design of a spire structure which is an opening at the top of the building where the weather elements are in effect directly. In the shard building this where the viewing gallery, plant and building maintenance are contained. For this to be possible a reduction in the structural density was done. Therefore, above the 72 level, a steel mast was used instead of the concrete core. Floor plates used after every 3 levels and open grids used in the place of solid floors.
Facade
Made of 8 glass panels held at a tilting angle of six degrees. The angle of tilting allows the building to reflect the weather. On top of the glass is an intelligent facade consisting of three skins of woven glass fiber roller blinds (Linder, O 2013). Which are installed to take control of the effect of sunlight minimizing the solar radiation and allowing maximum use of natural light. Some of the solar radiation is absorbed to form heat which is radiated into the air-space in between the inner and outer plate. During summer the heat absorbed is expelled to the exterior of the building. However, in winter the cold in maintain to the outside since the inner plane is heated by a heated air stream.
The fractures
These are the spaces in between the glass panels which were left open to the wind this formed conservatories, meeting rooms and apartments. The fractures also host winter gardens which are enclosed in the double-glazed glass but with access to air from the outside.
Fire-fighting
In the case of the Shard building, it was designed to allow the fire-fighters to have dedicated access routes and lifts. This was an idea after the problem was faced by fire-fighters, rescue and emergency teams in the world trade center building (Douglas, L 2011). The challenge was tackle by having access routes for fire-fighter in the building core.
The sustainable impact of the Shard on the local community
The construction of the Shard building leads to the formation of a committee from the locality. Allowing the community to have a role to play in the decision making on the services of the building towards the community particularly on issues concerning the environment (Great Britain, 2012. 4). With such community committee’s community assets can be protected from grabbing.
Despite the view that the Shard building is a tall building that will interfere with protected views like St. Pauls Cathedral, it has become an icon in a place that was marginalized. Bring transformation to the area at large. Making the place an area considerable for new development projects. Turning prospective projects southwards toward Bermondsey (Evening Standard, 2011).
Other surrounding buildings and shop have an uplift to their appearance since the building was built. The train station was transformed making it pleasant for commuting. Symbolizing the coming up of south London as part of the capital.
During construction of the Shard building, it offered jobs to the locals such as construction jobs and to as far as vocational training to the younger youth. The training of such youth will pay of later in their lives since the technology learnt and the experience gained is of great measure (John, P 2012).
The Shard has become an economic hub since it hosts major hotels and restaurants which people have a need for in the rising class. One of the hotels on the Shard is a five star. It is has provided housing to a population since it has apartment housing over 7000 people. Boosting the tourism industry as the conservatory at the top floors of the building allows to people to take a view of the city at from an aerial view.
Conclusion
Finally, the Shard building has played a major role towards the design and construction of a new generation buildings. Buildings that are built to be more environmentally sustainable. Even-though, sustainability should be considered resilience of the building is also a factor to be considered (Garcia, E. J 2017). This is to make the modern-day designers think of cities of the future which are better and sustainable.
References
Garcia, E.J (2017). Unravelling sustainability and resilience in the built environment. Taylor and Francis
Kawazu, Y., Shimada, N., Yokoo, N., and Oka, T. (2005). The 2005 world sustainable building conference. Tokyo. SBOST Tokyo
Moore, R. (2011) The Guardian: The Shard a symbol of towering ambition [online] Updated 30 Jan 2011 Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/jan/30/shard-renzo-piano-london-bridge [Accessed: 16 March 2018
Douglas, L. (2011) Engineering and technology: The Shard the tallest building in Europe [Online] Updated [12 Sept 2011] Available from: https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2011/09/the-shard-europes-tallest-building [Accessed: 16 March 2018]
Parke, J (2012) Ingenia online: Building the Shard [Online] Updated [Sept 2012] Available from: https://www.ingenia.org.uk/Ingenia/Articles/790 [Accessed: 16 March 2018]
Engineers Journal (2016), Engineering the Shard [Online] Updated [26 Jan 2016] Available from: https://www.engineersjournal.ie/2016/01/26/engineering-the-shard [Accessed: 16 March 2018
Rabon, J (2015) The shard: the new iconic building defining the London skyline [Online] Updated [ 10 Apr 2016] Available from: https://londontopia.net/londonism/shard-new-iconic-building-defining-london-skyline/ [Accessed: 16 March 2018]
Parker, D & Wood, A. The tall buildings reference book. Routledge
Task committee on structural design for physical security. (1999) Structural design for physical security: state of practice. ASCE publications
Linder, O (2013) The Tech behind the Shard: Europe’s tallest building [Online] Updated [16 Aug 2013] Available from:
Great Britain. (2012). Taking forward community budgets: ninth report of session 2010-2012 report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence. London, Stationery Office. p4
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