Mace starts on the Shard

Mace announce that they are to start building the 310m-high Shard at London Bridge later this month.

Mace has put four years into winning the Shard contract, seen the form switch from construction management to design and build, and seen off a late challenge from Laing O'Rourke. The final price is reported to be £425m, up from the original £350m, but lower than it was last autumn at £435m.

The Shard will uniquely feature a concrete frame sitting on top of a steel one, traditionally the steel framework sits upon the concrete frame. This, combined with the building's distinctive form, make it an engineer's dream. "With many tall buildings, you get a lot of repetitive structure," says Richard Mawer, a senior engineer with WSP. "The fascinating thing about this building is that nothing is the same, nothing is typical."

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