In 1998, London-based entrepreneur Irvine Sellar and his partners decided to redevelop the 1970s-era Southwark Towers following a UK government white paper encouraging the development of tall buildings at major transport hubs.

According to Sellar, Piano spoke of his contempt for conventional tall buildings during the meal, before flipping over the restaurant's menu and sketching a spire-like sculpture emerging from the River Thames.

[17][18] The inquiry took place in April and May 2003,[14][19] and on 19 November 2003, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister announced that planning consent had been approved.

He is satisfied that the proposed tower is of the highest architectural quality.Sellar and his original partners CLS Holdings plc and CN Ltd (acting for the Halabi Family Trust) secured an interim funding package of £196 million in September 2006 from the Nationwide Building Society and Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander.

[22] However, later that same month, turbulence in the financial markets reportedly put the Shard's construction in jeopardy,[23] threatening to render the project an example of the Skyscraper Index.

[16] He was inspired by the railway lines next to the site, the London spires depicted by the 18th-century Venetian painter Canaletto, and the masts of sailing ships.

[29] Piano considered the slender, spire-like form of the tower a positive addition to the London skyline, recalling the church steeples featured in historic engravings of the city, and believed that its presence would be far more delicate than opponents of the project alleged.

He proposed a sophisticated use of glazing, with expressive façades of angled glass panes intended to reflect sunlight and the sky above, so that the appearance of the building would change according to the weather and seasons.

The Shard's early conceptual designs were among the first in the UK to be amended following the publication of the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) report into the collapse of the WTC.

The building is designed to maintain its stability under very onerous conditions,[32] with its post-tensioned concrete and composite floors, load-bearing pillars, and tapering shape giving it a sway tolerance of 400 millimetres (16 in).

[33] In 2014, The Shard claimed first place at the Emporis Skyscraper Awards, recognising buildings over 100 m (328 ft) completed in the previous twelve months.

In late November, the core's height exceeded 235 m (771 ft), ending One Canada Square's 18-year reign as Britain's tallest building.

[48] By late December 2011, The Shard had become the tallest building in the European Union, superseding the Commerzbank Tower in Frankfurt, Germany.

[55][56] The Shard was surpassed as the tallest European building outside Russia by the 310-metre (1,017 ft) Varso Tower, Warsaw, Poland in February 2021.

The Shard is the second-tallest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom, after the 330-metre (1,083 ft) concrete transmission tower at Emley Moor.

In February 2013, The Sunday Times reported that the developers of The Shard were in negotiations to secure the first tenants of the building's 26 floors of office space.

At the time, potential tenants included financial restructuring specialists Duff & Phelps, private equity firm Hatton Corporation, and the South Hook Liquefied Natural Gas Company.

[75] In January 2015, further tenants for The Shard were announced, including IO Oil & Gas Consulting, Gallup, and The Office Group.

[77] In August 2015, the international law firm Greenberg Traurig announced that it would open its offices on the eighth floor of The Shard by the end of the year.

In March 2016, marketing agency Jellyfish signed a lease for 9,017 square feet (837.7 m2) of office space on the 22nd floor, with occupancy beginning later in the year.

[79] A month later, publishing house Dods Group let almost 17,000 square feet (1,600 m2) on Level 11, becoming The Shard's 28th office occupier.

In December, Kraft Heinz relocated their European and UK headquarters from Hayes in Hillingdon to The Shard after taking 38,000 square feet (3,500 m2) on Levels 20 & 21.

In December 2011, a group of recreational explorers calling themselves the Place Hackers evaded security and made their way to the top of the Shard building site, climbing one of the tallest cranes in the process.

One member of the group, Oxford University researcher Bradley Garrett, later revealed to various news outlets that over 20 urban explorers had made their way to the top of the building during its construction.

[87] On 11 July 2013, six Greenpeace volunteers climbed the Shard and unfurled a flag in protest against Arctic oil drilling by Royal Dutch Shell.