Shuttleworth says Shard won't survive
At 310m the Shard will be the tallest building in the EU when it completes later this year.
Source: MaceSpeaking at Ecobuild Make boss gives views on Renzo Piano’s tower
Ken Shuttleworth predicts the Shard will be torn down and replaced with an even taller tower within a few years. Renzo Piano’s 310m landmark, which is still being built, will quickly seem out of date, said the Make boss.
Each generation thinks it has designed the “ultimate building” only to see many of them bulldozed when technology moves on, he told a packed discussion on tall buildings at Ecobuild yesterday.
It takes so long to get skyscrapers approved that planning regs and environmental standards have changed by time they are completed, he said.
“I think we will demolish the Shard in a few years’ time and build it even taller,” he said, acknowledging that the demand for tall buildings would remain regardless of their green credentials.
“The Shard is fantastic but I don’t understand how it works environmentally with glass all the way round. Anything on the drawing board now needs to be anticipating future regulations.
“When the Shard was designed energy was cheap and sealed, air-conditioned buildings were acceptable. Now we know better.”
He said Make’s groundscraper at 5 Broadgate will be twice as energy efficient as the Shard, with just 35% of its facade glazed.
Structural engineer Jane Wernick, who argued that tall buildings were never green, said the idea the Shard could be replaced so soon was “absolutely shocking”.
She added: “We can’t afford to throw away all that embodied carbon. It’s gas guzzling… but now it’s been built we must do everything we can to keep it.”
Shard engineer Richard Mawer, from WSP, defended the £2 billion project, insisting: “I’m pretty sure the Shard won’t be torn down in 30 years. You could argue it will be London’s Empire State Building with people coming to see the building and the views.
“We came up with an incredibly energy efficient design that’s quite future proof.”
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Readers' comments (18)
Because of course Make have never designed and all-glass building have they?
They may seem to favour mixed facades now, but the Shard was designed 13 years ago.
I look forward to seeing what % of glass will achieve the new Make's tower in Mumbai, reported to be "design in progress" only a few days back...
ken is fast becoming the go to guy when an event wants a speaker who talks a load of tosh.
If Make had designed just one decent building one might be inclined to listen to what Ken Shuttleworth has to say. As they haven't, his musings are not worthy of serious consideration.
Shuttleworth has entirely lost the plot, hasn't he?
Nothing like a bit of self promotion.
That does rather appear to be the case, Munter. It might also be observed that Make's hunger for publicity seems a little disproportional to the quality of their output, judging by the projects that grace the pages of BD.
On the other hand, Ken Shuttleworth's mission to be controversial yields him indefinite column inches in the trade press and ensures that he doesn't slip from the public eye. Love him or... not, you can't avoid him.
Ecobuild is a buzz word of an inanity level as that of Digital Convergence that pervaded computer industry back in 1997.
He should follow Fosters lead and just not comment on anything ever... unless its himself.
I like that he comments; I was there at the debate and it was interesting seing Mr Shuttleworth being batted like a shuttlecock between the two extreem positions of Richard "towers are great" Mawer and Jane "low rise only" Wernick. I thought the most interesting thing Ken said was that if he was designing the Gherkin now he's take into account orientation, in other words (he admitted), different facades and cladding to each side.