Video: Shard building cradle swinging in wind causes firefighter response I think it was seen from a helicopter and people panicked unnecessarily. A spokesman for Mace, the main contractor working on the 309.6 metre (1,015ft) high building said that what he called a "building maintenance unit" was well able to withstand the conditions at the highest point on the skyline. "We can confirm that the wind speeds were well within safe limits and that the building maintenance unit was operating in the right way," he said. Nobody was injured and the operatives were able to resume work. An ambulance was on standby at the bottom of the glass-fronted building as a precaution. London Fire Brigade, which sent a fire engine and fire rescue unit to the Shard, said in a message on Twitter that they had made the cradle safe, adding "we can all now breathe a sigh of relief." The Shard, which has 31.4 acres of space, will be officially opened by Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabor Al Thani, Qatar's prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, and the Duke of York on Thursday.