Ofcom pricks Shard's 'biggest erection' boast
Regulator engages in vigorous mast-urbation
Ofcom, the UK's telecommunications regulator, has told the company raising London's latest erection, the Shard, that two of the country's tallest TV transmission masts stand more proudly skyward than the so-called "vertical city" does.
The 'Shard-on', designed by famed Italian architect Renzo Piano and currently under construction by developer the Sellar Group, will extend to 310m and dominate the Capital's skyline when it is completed next year.
Emley Moor (left) and Belmont: reach 330m and 351m, respectively
"Pah!" says Ofcom. The Emley Moor transmitter mast, constructed in 1970 - the third on the site; the first was knocked down in 1964, the second fell down in 1969 - and now a Grade II Listed Building, extends 330m above the furze of the moor.
Source: Ofcom
Caldbeck tower, in Cumbria, stands at 337m, but Lincolnshire's Belmont mast, is the tallest of its kind, reaching 351m.
Belmont was erected in the 1960s, as was the original Caldbeck. But Arqiva, the company that owns the UK terrestrial telly transmission infrastructure, rebuilt it in 2008.
Shard-enfreude: Ha! Ha! You're not the tallest after all
Both Caldbeck and Belmont are not free-standing towers, requiring cabling to stop them toppling. Emley Moor is the tallest free-standing building in Europe, a record also claimed by the Shard's developers. ®
COMMENTS
Those who obsess about such things
like to distinguish between freestanding 'buildings' and 'structures', with the latter consisting of mostly habitable space - offices/flats/hotel rooms*. So the Shard will be the tallest building in Western Europe, with Emley Moor the tallest structure, and honour is satisfied all round.
* The Burj Khalifa now holds both world titles, the first time a building has been the tallest structure since the construction of the CN Tower in 1976.
Size
The shard is satisfyingly thick at the base in comparison though.
Confused
"Emley Moor is the tallest free-standing building in Europe"
Ostankino Tower in Moscow is also freestanding and is 540m tall and the last time I checked Moscow was still in Europe...
I go past this every day on the train
I love the way they pre-fab buildings now and put them together like Meccano - that thing literally gets bigger in front of your eyes.
In that case
At 368m, the Fernsehturm in Berlin is still taller than anything in the UK.
