Business commuters walk across London Bridge near the Shard tower. The aim for the Shard, which is 95% owned by Qatar, is to create a dynamic, commercially fruitful environment with leisure tenants such as hotels and restaurants complementing and augmenting the operations of office tenants.
By Denise Marray
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Creating a vertical city of the stunning proportions of the Shard is a great feat of engineering and design, but it is the occupants of the imposing 310m tower that will shape its future and have a critical impact on the wider business community of the London Bridge Quarter (LBQ). The LBQ is situated in the South East of London, south of the River Thames and the City of London, with fast and efficient transport connections throughout the capital.
From the outset, the vision has been to create a mixed use building with the aim of establishing a vibrant, sustainable and integrated community formed of a wide range of businesses and sectors. These range from accountancy, legal, high tech, communications, telecommunications, financial services, education and health. The tenants announced this week, including law firm Mathys & Squire; Duff &Phelps Corp, a New York-based investment bank; Venture capital company Foresight Financial Group; South Hook Natural Gas and hospital operator HCA, reflect the emphasis on diversity and the desire to avoid dependence on any one sector.
The aim as explained by Baron Phillips, PR director for the Shard, is to create a dynamic, commercially fruitful environment with the leisure tenants such as the hotels and restaurants complementing and augmenting the operations of the office tenants.
Some 4,500 customers are visiting the restaurants (The Oblix, Aqua Shard and Hutong) in the Shard every day. The Shangri-La Hotel, due to open in May, will occupy nineteen floors.
The Shard comprises 600,000sq ft of office space, which in the context of some commercial buildings in London where one can find up to three quarters of 1mn sq ft of office space under one roof, is not exceptional. What is exceptional is the value for money the building represents and the outstanding quality and flexibility of the working environment.
When one considers that for 15,000 to 20,000sq ft of hard-to-find office space in Mayfair one would easily be looking at £110 per sq ft plus service charges and rates added on, it is not hard to see why companies see the Shard’s competitive rates as offering good value for money.
According to April Taylor, head of marketing for the LBQ, there has been a significant interest shown in the Shard by companies based in the West End of London where space is in short supply. She pointed out that while in the aftermath of the recession many companies relocated in a bid to find cheaper premises to reduce their overheads, there is now a focus on looking at the office space as an asset to increase productivity. “The cost agenda for occupiers is not as significant as it used to be – we have gone through that wave,” she said.
Flexible working spaces are seen as highly desirable with a definite move away from creating regimented zones. Taylor noted that would be tenants and fit-out contractors find the built-in flexibility afforded by the Shard’s design a very attractive feature. “The depth from window to core is so shallow that there is a tremendous amount of natural light which is incredibly important for productivity. The Shard is one of the very few buildings in central London to offer that,” she said.
The location of the building is also a major draw as it is sited on one of the major transport hubs of London, with easy access to Canary Wharf, the City and the West End.
The sister building to the Shard, the Place, will be occupied in its entirety by News UK, publishers of the Times and the Sun newspapers.
Phillips explained: “The Shard and the Place share the same DNA.” Both buildings are designed by Renzo Piano. An imposing third tower, comprising a 27-storey residential building, including 150 apartments, retail space and a roof garden, also designed by Piano, is planned to complement the Shard and the Place. James Sellar, chief executive of the Sellar Group, expects the new residential tower to “substantially elevate the public realm surrounding the transport hub and complement the redevelopment of the station which is due to complete in 2018.”
The LBQ is one of the most historic and culturally rich districts in London. Taylor explained that the area is proving a draw for creative industries: “We’re seeing a lot of creative industries popping up in this area – fuelled in part because you have News UK and all their media brands next door (in the Place); the Financial Times and IPC media (a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Inc) are around the corner and Al Jazeera is coming into the Shard. We’re creating a media village and other businesses are congregating around this.”
She also emphasised that it is a priority for the LBQ team to work to source products and services locally wherever possible to ensure the viability of established business in the area such as those operating in the nearby Borough market.