20th May - Iconic WSP project The Shard, the tallest building in the European Union, has won the prestigious annual Skyscraper Award from the Hamburg-based Emporis, the building and construction data company.

The London landmark, which was structurally engineered by WSP, the global professional services consultancy, beat a number of high-profile new buildings to take the main honour, including the DC Tower 1in Vienna and the Sheraton Huzhou Hot Spring Resort near Shanghai.

WSP pioneered the innovative 'top-down' construction technique, which allowed the first 23 storeys of the core to be built before the building's basement had been fully excavated. More information on this world-first technique is available on the WSP website.

The award was decided by a judging panel of international architecture experts, who selected The Shard from more than 300 buildings that were at least 100 metres tall and completed in the last year.

Judging was based on aesthetic and functional design criteria. In particular, the judges said: "Construction of The Shard was complicated by the particularly tight site and therefore needed innovative planning. This makes the result all the more impressive: a skyscraper that is recognized immediately and which is already considered London's new emblem."

The expert panel also praised its unique glass fragment-shaped form and its sophisticated architectural implementation.

John Parker, WSP's team leader for the project, has presented to the UK-based Institution of Civil Engineers on 'Engineering the Shard', which can be viewed online here.

John said: "I have worked on long time term projects and it is amazing seeing them grow but I think the Shard is one of the projects I am most proud of. My role was leading a team of structural engineers to ensure it was designed to maximise the space available for the end user. By building down at the same time that we built upwards we also managed to deliver the project within the timeframe needed."

The announcement follows last week's ENR Award for the Shard's adjacent building The Place, another WSP project, for Global Best Office Project.

The Emporis list of the top ten skyscrapers can be found on CNN website.

For media enquiries please contact: WSP in the UK Press Office, press.office@wspgroup.com  / 020 7314 4644

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