Prysmian Cables for the Shard

Prysmian won the contract to supply more than £1 million of electrical cables into the Shard at London Bridge. The Shard, which is still the tallest building in Western Europe was completed in 2012, fitted with Prysmian Fire Performance FP600S cable, – Low Smoke Zero Halogen (LSOH) cables and Medium Voltage cables; installation started in 2011. 

A number of factors influenced the main contractor Mace to choose Prysmian over alternative suppliers. 

Paul Connolly, Shard MEP Project Manager for Mace, said: “We appointed Prysmian as their cables are specified products that come with BASEC and LPCB approvals. We also wanted all the electrical cables to come from one manufacturer to give consistency and one that could offer more than just cables, one that could offer components such as glands, cleats and advise on best practice. 

“Prysmian are able to give us technical support and backup should we need it and having visited their Eastleigh facility I have seen first-hand the quality of their manufacturing processes.” 

Prysmian UK Business Director said: “We are of course delighted to be associated with such an important landmark development as the Shard. Winning was testament to the hard work of all my colleagues, from manufacturing to sales, and validates our belief that we are the best cable manufacturer in the business.” 

Designed in 2000 by Italian architect Renzo Piano, work on the Shard started in March 2009. Construction has continued rapidly since, and the 72-storey concrete core was completed in December as the building became the tallest in the UK at 244m. Completion was in 2012 in time for London 2012 and the skyscraper has residential apartments, a hotel, office space, restaurants and viewing galleries.