NEW OPENING
ABOUT THE VISITOR EXPERIENCE
KEVIN MURPHY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR EVENT COMMUNICATIONS
“O
ur aim is for The View from The Shard to be the fi rst stop for visitors to London, and for it to defi ne their experience of the
city. Where else can you see the whole of the city and plan your stay? To achieve this, we decided to tell the story of the quirkier parts of the city that aren’t so familiar and of Londoners and people who have lived in or infl uenced London. We looked for diversity and things people wouldn’t normally think of and hope people will be inspired to seek these places out.
AUDIOVISUAL People come to The Shard to get the view, but by working with the client team plus DJ Willrich who did the AV hardware, Elbow Productions Ltd who provided AV and media production and Benchworks Ltd for the setworks, we’ve created a quality experience that starts at the website when people book and continues from when they enter the door. We could just take guests straight to the top of the building, but we’re giving them much more than that. We have a number of multimedia screens and vis- ual stimuli in at the ground fl oor and the walk through to the escalators, but once visitors get to top, the focus is on the view. We purposely haven’t put too much interpretation around the view, as we want guests to be looking out, not in. We commissioned composer David
Mitchum to write a piece of music that evokes the experience and grandeur of the building. It was recorded at Abbey
The visitor experience explores the quirky side of London
Road Studios by the London Symphony Orchestra, so ties into the city theme.
MEDIA The View from The Shard is a premium attraction, so queuing will be minimal, but we want any visit and passage through security to be an experience, so there are very large graphics showing characters in odd situations. We looked for famous Londoners and people who were inspired by or had an infl uence or impact on the city, such as Benjamin Franklin who lived in London for 16 years. We then looked for situations that were comical, that these people would never fi nd themselves in and that raise an eyebrow. These include the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as a pearly king and queen; mayor Boris Johnson shining former mayor Ken Livingstone’s shoes; suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst pointing the way to emancipation with the Spice Girls; and Prince Charles judging archi- tecture in a sand castle competition. At the security check, visitors walk through a metal detector and their
“PEOPLE COME FOR THE VIEW. WE COULD JUST TAKE GUESTS STRAIGHT TO THE TOP OF THE BUILDING, BUT WE’RE GIVING THEM MUCH MORE THAN THAT”
42 Read Attractions Management online
attractionsmanagement.com/digital
bag goes through a scanning machine. Panels here show tongue in cheek images of Sherlock Holmes, Jack the Ripper, Crippen and police offi cers. After security, cameras are tied into
screens which take a guest’s picture and transfer their image onto a character in the picture, such as in Sergeant Pepper’s balloon. They’ll see themselves on the screen along with the other 10 or 12 peo- ple in front of them and be able to buy souvenir images at the end. Screens outside the fi rst lift doors
show where they currently are to give a scale to the building. The image shows it’s a vertical city plus a transport hub, with trains running under the building.
HIGHS AND LOWS We hit a few practical challenges in terms of the size of the building and cable runs because of the distances involved. The biggest personal challenge for me was getting over my vertigo, as we initially had to use a lift outside of the building. The fi rst time I nearly got off halfway up and left the rest of the team to it, but I would never have lived down the shame, so I got through it. The delight has been working with an
architect who wants to work with us. It’s very rare to see an architect embracing the creative element of a project. That, and a client team that wants to have fun. It’s been very refreshing. ●
AM 1 2013 ©cybertrek 2013
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