London Photo Gallery - The Shard


The Shard is located on top of London Bridge station and opened in 2012. Funded by the State of Qatar, Renzo Piano designed the architecture with inspiration from church spires and ship masts.

The building has multiple uses, including 26 floors of offices, 3 floors of restaurants, 19 floors of hotel, 13 floors of residences, and London's highest observation deck on the 72th floor.

The Shangri-La Hotel occupies the middle section from the 34th to 52nd floors with 202 rooms and several restaurants. I picked the highest one, Gong, which serves Japanese cuisine and is the highest hotel bar in Western Europe.

The restaurant's tables face The City and east towards Canary Wharf. At these heights, views in any direction are great.

I ordered the tempura prawns, spicy Yellowfin tuna roll, and M6 wagyu rice bowl with Italian black truffles. A slice of cucumber spiced up the glass of tap water well.

Back downstairs at the lobby, the views open up to the west and south, and I could spot St. Paul's and the Thames twisting its way to Westminster and Nine Elms.

London Photo Gallery Main Page

To re-use these photos, please notify me by email : asiaglobe@yahoo.com.hk.