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The View from The Shard: first details revealed

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EMBARGOED UNTIL 1200HRS, FRIDAY 26 OCTOBER 2012

  • Margaret Thatcher and Karl Marx on a tandem - famous Londoners, past and present in playful juxtapositions welcome visitors in the ground floor galleries
  • London Symphony Orchestra perform the attraction’s soundtrack
  • State of the art interactive telescopes – used for the first time in Europe - take people further into the story of London in ten languages
  • New CGI film footage of attraction launched, revealing glimpses of the visitor experience
  • New national competition announced, providing members of the public with an opportunity to win tickets to The View from The Shard’s opening day: http://bit.ly/TVFTStwitter

The View from The Shard, the new premium visitor experience at the pinnacle of The Shard, London’s newest landmark and Western Europe’s tallest building, has today [26 October 2012] revealed a glimpse of some of the attraction’s features and content that are currently being created ahead of its opening on 1 February 2013. 

The View from The Shard takes people on a journey to 244m (800ft) above London, almost twice as high as any other viewing point in the city.  The attraction provides a unique encounter with The Shard and the most spectacular 64km (40 mile), 360-degree views over the capital and beyond – it is the only place you can see all of London, all at once, making it the perfect first stop for visitors to the city. 

The elements of the attraction revealed illustrate the different stages of the visitor journey through The View from The Shard, and provide a glimpse of the entire visitor experience – full details of which are yet to be revealed:

  • A series of colourful tongue-in-cheek illustrations of famous Londoners in playful juxtapositions will greet visitors at the entrance to The View from The Shard. Here Margaret Thatcher and Karl Max are pictured out for a ride together on a tandem bicycle; Vidal Sassoon and Vivienne Westwood are giving King Charles I a makeover; Alfred Hitchcock flees the pigeons in Trafalgar Square, George Orwell is installing CCTV cameras whilst Benjamin Franklin is shown at a cash machine. The ground floor draws guests into the rich tapestry of London, its diverse communities and colourful characters.  Along the walls, video screens and display panels also show digital maps of London and film footage of city life – preparing guests for the breathtaking views that await them.
  • Guests depart the ground floor in two high-speed lifts that take just 30 seconds each to reach the viewing platforms.  On their journey skywards they will be accompanied by a soaring anthem from the London Symphony Orchestra, building anticipation of seeing London like never before.  The specially composed music is part of the wider musical score that will accompany guests through The View from The Shard, also featuring acclaimed London-based chamber choir, the Joyful Company of Singers. [See the LSO in recording: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheViewFromTheShard]
  • In the viewing galleries, 244m (800ft) above London, the remarkable 360 degree, 64km (40mile) view over the city is revealed. Guests are able to explore the view through 12 digital ‘Tell:scopes’ that are being made available in Europe for the first time. The Tell:scopes -  digital telescopes with large touchscreens - 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 famous landmarks and places of significant interest in the user’s sight line and provide information about them in 10 languages.  Guests are drawn deeper into the story of London as bitesize elements of history, and images, appear on screen.  In total, 200 landmarks and places of interest across London will be highlighted on the Tell:scopes. [Images here: www.bit.ly/LuoPvl]

In addition, The View from The Shard has also announced:

  • The release of new computer generated footage providing a glimpse of the visitor experience – from street level to the viewing galleries. The video, featuring music from the specially composed score performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, can be viewed on The View from The Shard’s Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/theviewfromtheshard
  • A new national competition calling on members of the public to nominate their favourite parts of London to be included on attraction’s Tell:scopes. The competition, judged by TV historian Dan Snow, invites Londoners and the public to nominate parts of the capital that aren’t necessarily well-known tourist attractions or landmarks, but have a particular historical significance or charm that can add to the visitor’s experience of the city. 
  • The competition will be available at: http://www.facebook.com/theviewfromtheshard.  Nominations should be made on twitter under the hash tag #SecretShardView  Ten entries will be chosen and the ten winners will each receive a pair of complimentary tickets to The View from The Shard on its opening day 1 February 2013. [Read the full release here: http://bit.ly/TVFTStwitter]
  • Put The Shard in a stocking this Christmas.  New gift certificates for The View from The Shard are now available, enabling tickets to the attraction to be given as gifts.  The attraction is a queue and crowd free experience, with guests choosing the time and date that suits them best for their visit. The new gift certificates enable tickets to be given as a present but allow the recipient to choose when they would like to visit.
  • New temporary box office in operation – tickets can be bought from a pop up ticket office opposite The Shard and London Bridge station.

Anders Nyberg, Chief Executive, The View from The Shard, said: The View from The Shard is the only place you can experience all of London all at once and the attraction will draw people into the story of London, its history, people and places like never before.  The unrivalled panoramic views of London will be brought to life through cutting edge technology to provide a truly unique experience of one of the world’s greatest cities.  We look forward to revealing more details about the attraction before we open on 1 February 2013.”

Tickets now on sale:  Be the first to visit

Tickets and Gift Certificates can be purchased from the dedicated website www.theviewfromtheshard.com, via the temporary box office opposite The Shard at London Bridge or via the box office hotline: +44 (0)844 499 7111 (a handling fee applies for telephone bookings only).  Tickets and gift certificates cost £24.95 for adults and £18.95 for children.

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Press images
Images of The Shard and The View from The Shard: www.bit.ly/LuoPvl

Press contacts

Kallaway PR

William Kallaway: +44 (0)20 7221 7883 / william.kallaway@kallaway.com

Nazneen Nawaz: +44 (0)20 7221 7883 / nazneen.nawaz@kallaway.com

Susannah Glynn: +44 (0)20 7221 7883 / susannah.glynn@kallaway.com

The View from The Shard
Ruth Howlett, Head of PR: +44 (0)20 3102 3973 / ruth.howlett@shardlondonbridge.com

Follow the progress of The View from The Shard

The View from The Shard – The Visitor Experience

The View from The Shard will take guests on a multi-sensory journey from street level up to 244m (800ft) and will provide a remarkable experience of one of the greatest cities on earth.

From arrival, guests will be drawn into the diverse tapestry of London and get a glimpse of what it will be like to have the city laid out before them. Anticipation is further heightened as they travel in two high-speed lifts that take just 30 seconds each to reach Level 68 where they will encounter the cloudscape and the feeling they are on a different plane rising above the world.

From Level 68 they make their way to the triple-height, light-filled, Level 69 where the view is revealed. Here, in the sky above London, guests will have the most astonishing 360 degree, 64km (40mile) view over the city and beyond. The past, present and future of London is unfurled beneath them and also brought to life in multimedia displays and installations. Examples include high tech digital telescopes that take the viewer deeper into the story of London.

Guests can choose to go even higher to the full 244m:  Level 72, the highest public level of The Shard. Here, guests have the most profound experience exposed to the elements and sounds of the city beneath, as well as the chance to look up to the shards of glass that form the top of this sculptural building as they disappear upwards further into the sky.

The View from The Shard is the highest vantage point from any building in Western Europe and almost twice as high as any other viewing point in London.

Further public booking information
The View from The Shard will be open from 0900 – 2200hrs daily (except 25 December). The entrance will be located on Joiner Street, London, SE1.  The nearest tube/rail station is London Bridge.  The attraction is located on bus routes 43, 48, 141, 149, 521.  Public information email: info@theviewfromtheshard.com.

About The Shard
The Shard (www.the-shard.com) is a landmark building on the London skyline, designed by Master Architect Renzo Piano and is the UK’s first vertical city. At a height of 1,016 ft (310 m) the building redefines London’s skyline and will be a dynamic symbol of the Capital, recognisable throughout the world. Located in the historic London Bridge Quarter in the heart of London, The Shard sits centrally between the West End, Westminster, the South Bank, the City and Canary Wharf.

The name ‘Shard’ comes from its sculpted design, which consists of glass facets that incline inwards but do not meet at the top, but instead open to the sky to allow the building to breathe naturally. London church spires and masts of ships which once anchored on the River Thames inspired the elegant building. The Shard is a vertical city with high-quality offices, international restaurants, the 5-star Shangri-La hotel, exclusive residences and The View from The Shard.

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