Five things you might not know about the ArcelorMittal Orbit and its slide

It’s actually one work of art wrapped inside another work of art. The original tower design is by Bombay-born British artist Anish Kapoor, but the slide that curls round is designed by Belgian-born German artist Carsten Höller, at Kapoor’s invitation.

The Orbit is constructed from enough steel to make 265 London buses, so it’s just as well that its sponsor, ArcelorMittal, is the world’s largest steel company. (Yes that explains the name, too). Oh, and the steel is recycled, so when you’re at the top, you’re standing on old washing machines and scrapped cars.

The Orbit slide is the world’s longest tunnel slide. It takes 40 seconds to whizz from top to bottom, including 12 loops round the tower (called the ‘bettfeder’ – German for ‘bedspring’).

You can wear fancy dress on the slide, so long as you can still slide safely. You can wear your specs, too – perfect if you’re thinking of working that Clark Kent-turning-into-Superman look.

Think the slide is daring? Try abseiling down the Orbit. You can book sessions to abseil down it from spring to late summer.