London Bridge area guide

The original bridge spanning the River Thames was built in Roman times and is long gone, the railway station that bears its name serving as London's gateway to Gatwick International Airport and the seaside towns of the south coast, but the area around the station which includes Bermondsey now has two notable architectural taking points. The first is the armadillo-like Greater London Authority building that squats beside a renovated WWII battleship looking north towards the city skyline and the second, due for completion in May 2012 is something even more dramatic. Part of A £2bn regeneration scheme, an 80 storey skyscraper called the Shard will be Europe's tallest mixed-use building. Designed as a "vertical city", the foundation will be sunk to the same depth as Nelson's Column and will contain 1/2 million sq ft of office space along with a five-star hotel and residential apartments.

Tower Hill underground station (District & Circle Lines) and Tower Gateway ( DLR for Canary Wharf) are a just a short walk away from the apartment block. Excellent bus services connect the area with Holborn, the Strand, Covent Garden, Liverpool Street and Oxford Street.