‘Shard’ doesn’t compare to real thing

It is becoming increasingly embarrassing to see the continual reference to the ‘Ashford Shard’.

The proposed building is just a rather nondescript block of flats, and at 16 storeys is only four storeys higher than International House. The real Shard in London is 72 storeys high, not far off five times the height, and is a truly iconic building. Let’s give it a rest and call it what it really is, an average, fairly small tower block.

This seems like rather sad delusions of grandeur, or perhaps just delusions.

Martin Turner

Editor’s note: Although not officially called the ‘Ashford Shard’, On Architecture director David Weir described the scheme last year as “not quite The Shard, but Ashford’s version of it”.

How the development could look from Ashford International station