BUILDING SECTION
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THE SHARD MEET FLAN McNAMARA, THE IRISHMAN WHO BUILT THE SHARD
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ROM his 18th floor office window near London’s Oxford Circus, if Flan McNamara looks southeast, he can see the distinct 1,016ft glass and metal skyscraper whose construction he oversaw, The Shard. Looking north-east, the 62-year-old Irishman who was born in Kilrush, Co Clare, can see Archway, where he lives, and nearby Highbury, the old home of his beloved Arsenal FC. He’s telling the story of his work on the £435 million, 95-storey flagship, where the weather was the key variable that threatened to hold up progress on its upper reaches. “At times, the cranes were idle for 60pc of the working week, so there were significant delays. We didn’t have comparable weather records, other than for Canary Wharf, for the height we were working at. “But we built it on time and on budget. It was a flagship project at a time when the workload in London had been
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NETWORKS
seriously impacted by the 2008 economic crash. But that also gave us an advantage, because the best people were available whereas today, for instance, if you tried to do it, many of them wouldn’t be. “I’m incredibly proud of the building; it redefined London. I love seeing it when I’m driving around the city. And of course, I can look out my window here and see it, though the skyline is also becoming crowded nearby.” Modest to a fault, McNamara emphasises how much of a team effort completing The Shard (in November 2012) was. “We had the world-leading architect, Renzo Piano. He would come to the site very regularly and engage with those of us working on it. A lot of big-name architects don’t do that, but he was very approachable; someone you could really communicate with. “The building’s developer, the late Irvine Sellar controlled it day to day, and ran a very tight ship. He was very careful
with the budget, in the knowledge that the funder was Qatar’s Sheikh Abdullah al-Thani, who also visited every three months (He stepped in with funding after problems that resulted from the economic crash). They were an amazing duo to work for. Irvine was very driven. They shared a passion for the project and got on together like they were brothers. “The main contractor, Mace, whose chief operating officer (COO) was on-site with us full-time, definitely made an impact too. We had great subcontractors as well. From an Irish perspective, the Byrne group provided the concrete, and their top men shared our commitment. “We all realised this was something special - a landmark that would change the South Bank and the face of the city forever. In many ways, it was technically ahead of its time. “The best leaders in this industry that I’ve been lucky enough to work with over the years have no discernible egos. That
