Moscow’s Mercury City dethrones London’s Shard as tallest tower in Europe

The $1bn under-construction Mercury City tower in Moscow has reached a height of 339m, overtaking the £450m, 310m Shard tower in London, UK, as Europe’s tallest tower.

According to the construction information firm Emporis, the 70-storey mixed office and residential tower actually became Europe’s tallest in September 2012 when it exceeded the height of the Shard.

Upon completion, the Mercury City tower, which is one of a series of tall skyscrapers in Moscow, will be 29m taller than Shard.

Being built by Russia-based Igor Kesaev in Moscow’s new financial district, the tower has approximately 90,000m² of office space and 20,000m² of apartments.

The tower is covered in copper glass and the first 40 floors of the structure will feature offices, while the remaining top levels will comprise luxury apartments.

Kesaev was quoted by the news agency Interfax as saying that Mercury City is a perfect indicator of Russian business activity.

"It shows that all of Russia continues to move forward along with countries of the eurozone," Kesayev said.

Adjacent to the Mercury City is the under-construction Federation Tower, which is anticipated to become Europe’s tallest skyscraper when it reaches its final height of 506m in 2013.

Even though all the three tallest European buildings, the Shard, Mercury City and the Federation Tower cross the 300m mark, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, UAE, is still the world’s tallest skyscraper with a height of 828m.

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Image: After completion, the Mercury City tower will be 29m taller than the London’s Shard tower. Photo: BpbAlonka.