How they clean the windows at the Shard...

Just in case you were wondering...Yeah, it's the scary way, with ropes and actual climbing...*shudder*...

Last day in Wapping...

...so it's goodbye Shuttle bus and thanks for all the lifts!  I've managed just over one year working in Wapping, some of my colleagues have been here almost 30 years(!), so while it's a bit odd (and exciting) for me, it's as nothing to the feeling of upheaval some others are going through!  Once we leave the building this afternoon (things are starting to shut down around 3pm) our door entry cards will stop working...next stop "The Place" (or "The News Building" as it will be known) on Monday morning (for a free breakfast, to find my locker, have a tour of the facilities - and then find somewhere to sit)!  Just got to pack the last few things into my crate, ready for my new (flexible) working life!

The Sun meets the Shard...

...looking absolutely epic...well, a bit more epic to the naked eye, but still epic... ;)

Open air viewing platform at the Shard

A couple of flights of stairs later (as if you actually needed to be any higher up at this point) -

- pushing through a heavy glass door -

- you suddenly (and unexpectedly scarily) find yourself standing back outside...No idea why, just a few feet below I felt perfectly comfortable...now my legs started to wobble (as the wind whistled past my ears)...

...and those little barriers looked just a little bit inadequate for the task of stopping me being blown off the edge...anyway, I overcame my reservations and had a little walk around, managing to get right into the corner to take a (dizzying) shot up to the top of the building -

...which really wasn't that far above where I was standing...!  And then, I had quite honestly had enough, the rain was starting to come down quite heavily, so I took one more spin around the level below just grabbing a few shots of the raindrops with the city beyond-

- and then headed back towards the lifts...absolutely breathtaking...I can't help but look over at the Shard now (from time to time) and reflect on how staggeringly tall it actually is (once you are standing right at the top) the whole of the rest of London is just insignificant in comparison...well worth the trip - but if you are paying to do it, do it on a sunny day! ;)

Top of the Shard in the rain

Welcome to the Shard - (the tourist experience now) - it all starts (and predictably finishes) in the gift shop, all very nice-

- extremely shortly thereafter it all gets terribly serious however, a zig-zag tape lined walk towards "Coats off, empty your pockets please", all your belongings are x rayed (exactly the same as at the airport - except you get to keep your shoes on), you pass through not only a metal detector, but also what I can only assume is a T-Ray scanner (large green screens in the middle, monolithic devices mounted on tripods pointing towards one (make sure you are wearing nice pants) -

- and then into the second of the queues, waiting for lift number one (takes you half way up) being told by the extremely empathic lady lift attendant that "It should be cool up there" (I rather hope they let her up there one day to find out)-

-then a very quick break at the 33rd floor to queue for another lift (honestly, they redefine "express", each trip (once you make it into a lift) is only around 25 seconds in length, climbing something in excess of two floors a second - Canary Wharf could learn something)...

Just a quick shot of the lift roof, which is made of TVs showing a crazy montage of dizzying images (I guess to prepare you for what is to come)...

...and then boom, you are out, just a breath of colder air to greet you as you step out of the lift, the windows on this reception level covered in litho (to prevent people stopping and staring until the proper time, I imagine)...up a short flight of stairs....and...WOW...



...thanks to my training living at extreme Z+ levels at Canary Wharf I didn't feel any irrational/rational(?) terror (did wonder if I would do)...walked around (snapping as quickly as I could, as the clouds were getting threatening)-

- and then spotted another flight of stairs.... ;)

Up the Shard on a Rainy day

So, today was the day, what a shame the weather wasn't too good...(oh well - I guess the cool thing is that hardly anyone would normally do this sort of thing in bad weather, so my pics might actually be somewhat unusual)... ;)

...so I got to London Bridge quite early (had to cab it to Redhill and get on a super early Luton train in order to make it on time) -

- found the Shard Arcade (which I has spied on previously during construction) now open, but it's still a bit shy in the way of actual shops - anyway - at the appointed time, I walked to the main entrance of the Shard itself - was directed to a lift -

- honestly, it felt a bit like playing a tutorial level on a run and gun game ("This way, Sir", "Yes, just up there") there must have been ten people employed to this end (which was the 22nd floor) -


- we had a couple of hours of (very informative) presentations after taking a couple of snaps from this (comparatively low level) -



...and then...it was back down to the ground floor to take a trip up to the top of the world (London-style)...

Watching the Shard being built...

...and then moving there (well into the baby version anyway)! Wow - the Shard was *small* back then!!  Anyway, tomorrow, assuming I can get a train into London from Earlswood early enough for the start of the session at 0745 (just a clue - that's a no - going to have to get a cab into Redhill to catch a different train if I want to make it) -

- I can participate in one of our office's "Shard Event"s (there are so many people involved I think they are going on all week long) but my place is booked for tomorrow morning -

- we assemble for breakfast on the 22nd floor (so same sort of height I used to work at in Canary Wharf) and then get a load of presentations regarding our relocation later in the year (progress/strategy/integration and a background/orientation session from the property group responsible for the London Bridge Quarter structures) -

- and then last but not least a trip up to the viewing platform (hope it's clear weather like today)!

Really looking forward to it, will need to make sure I charge the Canon ready for the morning! ;)

Ghostly Twin Shard

Wow, amazing light this morning, the reflection of the sun off the shard is creating a sort of ethereal, ghost "twin tower"!


As the cloud moves so you are getting a constantly shifting picture... ;)

The Tower and the Shard

...Ancient and modern... ;)

Update - Urm...guess I'll have to investigate what's going on with these stupid flickr watermarks later on... :(

Ethereal Shard

It just doesn't look quite *real*, it looks like a sympathetic digital rendering of London...very interesting light indeed... ;)

Bankside - Then and Now

(1997, not even that long ago)!

...and now...How things have changed!

Twilight Shard

...snapped the other evening...

The Emergency Exit...

...from the Shuttle Bus...hope I never need it... ;)

Mini Shard & Maxi Shard

(My new office - well, as of next year, once they fit it all out beautifully)...

Both structures looking *rather* fetching today... ;)  Or perhaps you prefer a portrait shot of the Shard? Does sort of deserve it, I suppose...Gives more of an impression of scale (but *loads* less context)...tough call... ;)

Shards...

...turned out nice in the end... ;)

The Shard - In fog

...those tourists will be flocking to climb up there today!  Oh and let's not forget the *unmistakable* River Thames (as seem from Tower Bridge) ;)