The new state of the art visitor experience at The View from The Shard - the premium attraction at the top of The Shard, London’s newest landmark, developed by Sellar Property in association with LBQ Ltd - has been revealed for the first time, ahead of the attraction’s official opening to the public on February 1, 2013.
The View from The Shard is the only place where it is possible to see the entire city of London at once and provides a unique encounter with the iconic building. With spectacular 40 mile (64km), 360 degree views of the city, 800ft (244m) above
ground, the attraction is set to become the first one-stop destination in London where visitors can experience the UK’s capital like never before.
In total, guests travel in four separate lifts up and down to the viewing galleries. The lifts travel at six metres per second, making the total lift journey time from Level 00 to level 68 around 60 seconds.
Guests depart the ground floor in ‘kaleidoscopic’ lifts using video screens and mirrors to create the effect of soaring through iconic ceilings and roofs of London. As they ascend towards the pinnacle of The Shard so they pass through the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral, the Rubens ceiling at the Banqueting House in Whitehall, the spiral staircase at Monument, and the British Museum’s Great Court glass roof. The descent lifts feature different visual effects.
Visitors will transfer lifts at Level 33 through an all-enveloping graffiti word map of London. Guests arrive at the ‘cloudscape’ on level 68 and immediately head upwards to the triple-height, light-filled, main viewing gallery at Level 69 where breath-taking, 360 degree views for up to 40 miles (64km) over the capital are revealed.
The city of London is brought to life on 12, free to use, ‘Tell:scopes’ – ultra high-tech digital telescopes that are being used in Europe for the first time. The Tell:scopes enable guests to explore the city around them in real time, as well as offering alternative (pre-recorded) day and night-time views. Fully interactive, they are able to identify over 200 famous landmarks and places of significant interest and offer information about them in 10 languages.
For the most profound experience, guests can go higher to the viewing gallery at Level 72 (800ft/244m). Here, at the very highest public level of the building, partially open-air and exposed to the elements, guests are surrounded by the giant shards of glass that form the top of The Shard and can fully experience the sounds and atmosphere of the city below.
The entire attraction offers free Wi-Fi. Guests can immediately share pictures, thoughts and views as they stand over the city with friends all over the world.
Andy Nyberg, The View from The Shard, CEO, said: “The View from The Shard is the only place you can see the whole of London all at once, and as such, is a natural starting point for exploring the UK’s capital.
"Here visitors can find the entire city laid out before them, to be explored, admired and inspired by. We’ve designed an
immersive visitor experience enhanced by state of the art technology to draw people deeper into the story of London, its people and history. I hope that our guests - Londoners and tourists alike - will enjoy a truly unique encounter with the city and The Shard."
Renzo Piano, the Architect who created The Shard, has been personally involved in developing the content of the experience, working in collaboration with the attraction designers Event Communications. He added: “London is a city of inspiration and
imagination. When we designed The Shard, a viewing gallery was part of our thinking right from the start.
"We wanted to create a public space where people could visit the building to experience London in a different way and also feel that they have discovered the spirit of the building. Level 72 is a wonderful example of this: in the open air on the highest habitable floor, you are surrounded by the shards of glass as well as the sights, sounds, elements and atmosphere of the city below. On top of the city, but also within it.”
The Shard is the iconic new building at the heart of the London Bridge Quarter. The £2bn regeneration project is being developed by Sellar Property in association with LBQ Ltd.
The building is a vertical town comprising offices, restaurants, the five star Shangri-La hotel, residences and the stunning View From The Shard visitor attraction.
London Bridge Quarter will see The Shard and its sister development The Place connect with London Bridge Station through a new central plaza, public realm, new station concourse and bus station as well as retail units.