The View from The Shard in London to Open 1 February 2013

The new 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 1 February 2013. The first day of opening is already sold out.

The View from The Shard allows visitors to see the entire city of London at once and provides a unique encounter with the iconic building.

With 40-mile (depending on the weather), 360-degree views of the city, from 800ft (244m) above ground, the attraction is set to become a must visit destination in London.

From the entrance at Joiner Street, guests enter the ground floor galleries to begin their exploration of the UK’s capital. Over 140 famous Londoners in playful juxtapositions greet visitors including The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge pictured as Pearly King and Queen; London Mayor, Boris Johnson, shining the shoes of his rival, Ken Livingstone; and Kate Moss marrying King Henry VIII, amongst many others.

Around the gallery, animated maps and video screens illustrate the growth of London and reveal the context of the historic London Bridge location - the oldest crossing point over the Thames - around which the city has expanded.

Through a series of short films, guests are given glimpses of London’s diverse communities and famous streets and places across the capital - all of which they will be able to see from the viewing galleries over 200m above them. Interactive displays also bring The Shard to life, demonstrating how this unique building is connected to the city.

A specially composed orchestral and choral soundtrack performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and The Joyful Company of Singers - one of Europe’s foremost chamber choirs - will accompany visitors as they journey through the attraction.

In total, guests travel in four separate lifts up and down to the viewing galleries. The lifts travel at six metres per second. 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 follow an image of the River Thames curving along the floor and see the capital mapped geographically around them in 200 sentences scrawled on the walls and floor, each describing a different part of the city. Guests can test their knowledge of London as they walk through, for example: Where is the ancient road to Dover? Which heath is famous for pistol duels? Where was the original Olympic Velodrome located?

The View

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 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.

Level 72

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.

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.

The Sky Boutique – the highest shop in London - on Level 68 enables guests to take home mementoes of their visit to The View from The Shard with bespoke designs and limited edition souvenirs.

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.”

Tickets and Visiting

Tickets are pre-booked, timed and dated, which it is hoped will provide a queue and crowd-free premium experience with no time limit in the attraction. Tickets can also be given as gifts via The View from The Shard Gift Certificates which enable the recipient to choose when they would like to visit.

Tickets cost £24.95 for adults and £18.95 for children. The View will be open from 09.00am to 22.00pm daily to enable guests to experience the city by day or night.

The Shard and a Shangri-La Hotel

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, a 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.