The Blade, Reading facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Blade |
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View from the west
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| Alternative names | Abbey Mill House |
| General information | |
| Status | Complete |
| Coordinates | 51°27′20.03″N 0°57′59.15″W / 51.4555639°N 0.9664306°W |
| Construction started | 2007 |
| Completed | 2009 |
| Cost | £32 million |
| Height | |
| Antenna spire | 86 m (282 ft) |
| Roof | 59 m (194 ft) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 15 (14 above ground, 1 below) |
| Lifts/elevators | 5 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Sheppard Robson |
| Developer | PMB Holdings and Aviva Investors |
The Blade, also known as Abbey Mill House, is a very tall building in Reading, Berkshire, England. It is the tallest building in the town. People use it for offices.
The Blade is 86 metres (282 ft) (about 282 feet) tall. You can see it from many places around Reading. The first company to move into the building was Kaplan Financial. They moved there from another building called Thames Tower.
Contents
Building The Blade
How Tall Is The Blade?
The idea for this tall building came up in 2001. Construction started in 2007 and finished in 2009. It cost about £32 million to build. That's a lot of money!
The Blade is made of strong steel. It has 14 floors above the ground. There is also one floor below the ground. Each floor is about 3.77 metres (12.4 ft) (12 feet) high.
What Does The Blade Look Like?
The outside of the building is made of a special system called a curtain wall. This means it has a lot of aluminium and glass panels. These panels make the building look very modern.
To make the building strong, it has a deep pile foundation. This is like very long poles that go deep into the ground. At the very top of The Blade is a spire. This spire is a frame covered with special panels. The very top of the spire reaches 128 meters (420 feet) above the ground.
Offices Inside The Blade
The Blade has a huge amount of space for offices. There is about 110,000 square feet of office space. Many different companies have their offices here. For example, a law firm named Gateley rented some space in the building.
