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The very public progress of this mammoth building (just how do you keep a skyscraper under wraps?) ensured that, by the time of its completion in 2012, the Shard was a familiar part of London's skyline, visible from all over the city – contentiously so in the case of London's many protected views. Visitors are now flocking to Renzo Piano's tripod-shaped, glass-clad building at London Bridge. At 1,017 feet high, it's the EU's tallest, containing offices, apartments, a hotel and, most excitingly, 'The View from the Shard', a four-storey observatory deck on floors 68 to 72. The development also coincides with a new public plaza, bus terminal and a long-awaited revamp of London Bridge station.