The Independent's journalism is supported by our readers. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn commission.

The Shard at sunset: Stunning drone footage captures iconic London landmark

The iconic building stands at over 1,000 ft - dominating the city's skyline

Rose Troup Buchanan
Wednesday 10 December 2014 13:18 GMT
Comments
Screenshot of the shard as the light captures the top of the building
Screenshot of the shard as the light captures the top of the building

Amazing drone footage has captured the Shard in all its 1,015 ft-high glory, although the producers of the impressive video have faced criticism from many in the "drone community".

Filmed using a small drone with a camera attached, the short film by Nathaniel Durman shows the amazing height and beauty of the latest addition to the London skyline, topped on 30 March 2012.

Designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, the building has 72 habitable floors with a viewing gallery and open-air observation deck on the 72nd floor, at a height of 244.3 metres or 802 feet. It is currently the tallest building in the European Union.

The iconic London building, which has 11,000 high-quality pale blue glass panels, was opened to the public in February 2013.

There are 44 lifts in the 1,367,784 square foot building, which houses three restaurants and a hotel, a legal practise, accountancy firm and Al Jazeera’s UK offices among other businesses. Despite all this, it is only the 59 tallest building in the world.

However, last week news emerged about a device, believed to have been a drone, coming close to a plane landing at Heathrow. A Heathrow spokesman said the "unauthorised use of unmanned aerial vehicles in proximity to an airfield is both irresponsible and illegal".

Thus, the producers of the video have faced criticism for the Shard video. Nathaniel Durman updated his Vimeo page apologising for the stunt, writing, "This video was recorded before the articles about Heathrow came to light. We do not earn any money off of our drone work, this film was not done on a commercial basis. Since posting this video we have received numerous helpful and useful links to learning the regulations set out by the CAA. We won't be making a video like this again."

The Civil Aviation Authority specifies that unmanned aircraft must not be flown beyond your normal unaided "line of sight", they must be flown at least 50m away from a person, vehicle or building and they must not be flown within 150m of a congested area.

Video courtesy of Durman Productions.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in