Mace chair describes Shard developer as ‘one of life’s characters’

Stephen Pycroft, executive chairman of Mace - the contractor that built the Shard - has paid tribute to Irvine Sellar, who died aged 82 on Sunday 26 February.

Sellar, chairman of Sellar Property Group, is best known for developing the UK’s tallest building. His company is also developing the west London Paddington Cube project, which has proved controversial with heritage groups.

Pycroft said: “I was deeply saddened to hear of the sudden death of Irvine Sellar. He was one of life’s characters and The Shard epitomised the impact he made in London both as a developer and as a person. I came to know him well during the period when Mace were appointed to deliver the Shard and we developed a close working relationship.

“He was one of a kind. Above his desk, he had a framed quote from George Bernard Shaw: ‘The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.’ I had the utmost respect for Irvine and he will be sadly missed.”

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