The View from The Shard

The View from The Shard is an observation deck between the 68th and 72nd floors of The Shard, the tallest building in London. The View from The Shard consists of a triple level indoor gallery on the 69th floor and a partially outdoor gallery on the 72nd floor. It was opened on 1 February 2013 by the then Mayor of London Boris Johnson. In its first year of opening, it was visited by 900,000 people and made a profit of over £5 million.^[1]

Indoor Viewing Gallery

The triple-height main viewing gallery on the 69th floor gives 360-degree views of up to 40 miles (60 km) and is equipped with interactive digital telescopes named "Tell-scopes" which can identify famous landmarks and places of interest and provide information about them in 10 different languages.^[2]

Partially Outdoor Viewing Gallery

The gallery on the 72nd floor is the highest public level of the building at a height of 800 ft (244 m)^[3]^[4] and also gives 360-degree views around the building. This gallery is partially open-air, providing views of the pinnacle of the building.

Amenities

The lifts travel at seven meters per second.^[5] Including a transfer of lifts on the 33rd floor, the time from the lobby to the 68th floor is approximately one minute.

The visitor toilets have panoramic windows with views over the River Thames and City of London, with optional electric blinds (short video overview of the toilets).^[6]

An orchestral and choral soundtrack performed by The London Symphony Orchestra and The Joyful Company of Singers was created for the venue and is played throughout. There are gift shops in the lobby and on the 68th floor.

References

^ "Shard rakes in £5million from visitors to viewing platform in first year". Evening Standard. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
^ "The Shard – Viewing London". by invitation. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
^ "The View from The Shard Media Briefing" (PDF). The View From The Shard. Baron Phillips, Baron Phillips Associates. March 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015. (page 1)"The View from The Shard:...At a maximum height of 244m (800ft), provides spectacular 40-mile (64km) 360 degree views of the city" (Page 5) "Level 72 open-air viewing gallery Guests can go even higher to the viewing gallery on Level 72 (800ft/244m) which is open-air and exposed to the elements."
^ "The Shard". LBQ. Retrieved 21 May 2015. It is 95 storeys tall, with level 72 the highest habitable floor.
^ "The world's fastest elevators - 20 metres per second - are coming soon to China". The Independent. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
^ "Geberit's Shard toilet on list of 50 must-pee places to visit before you die". The Building Centre. Retrieved 13 December 2020.

External links

51°30′16″N 0°05′11″W / 51.5045°N 0.0865°W / 51.5045; -0.0865

[1] "Shard rakes in £5million from visitors to viewing platform in first year". Evening Standard. Retrieved 5 November 2022.

[2] "The Shard – Viewing London". by invitation. Retrieved 5 November 2022.

[3] "The View from The Shard Media Briefing" (PDF). The View From The Shard. Baron Phillips, Baron Phillips Associates. March 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015. (page 1)"The View from The Shard:...At a maximum height of 244m (800ft), provides spectacular 40-mile (64km) 360 degree views of the city" (Page 5) "Level 72 open-air viewing gallery Guests can go even higher to the viewing gallery on Level 72 (800ft/244m) which is open-air and exposed to the elements."

[4] "The Shard". LBQ. Retrieved 21 May 2015. It is 95 storeys tall, with level 72 the highest habitable floor.

[5] "The world's fastest elevators - 20 metres per second - are coming soon to China". The Independent. Retrieved 5 November 2022.

[6] "Geberit's Shard toilet on list of 50 must-pee places to visit before you die". The Building Centre. Retrieved 13 December 2020.

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