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It dwarfs Big Ben, St. Paul's and the Gherkin and, when the public viewing gallery opens Feb. 1, visitors to London's the Shard will be able to see 65 kilometres in any direction.

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St Paul’s cathedral and the financial district are seen at dusk in an aerial photograph from The View gallery at the Shard, western Europe’s tallest building, in London Jan. 8, 2013.ANDREW WINNING/Reuters

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Commuter trains are seen at dusk in an aerial photograph from The View gallery. The public viewing deck, accessible by high-speed elevators, opens to the public Feb. 1, 2013.ANDREW WINNING/Reuters

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A toilet overlooking the financial district is seen in a rest room in The View gallery Jan. 9, 2013. The gallery, on floors 68, 69 and 72, provides 360-degree views.LUKE MACGREGOR/Reuters

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The shadow of western Europe’s tallest building, the Shard, is cast across the financial district, as seen from The View gallery. The building has 590,000 square feet of office space.LUKE MACGREGOR/Reuters

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Women look out at the city from The View gallery. Its 310-metre height dwarfs the Gherkin’s 180 metres, and the London Eye at 135 metres. The Burj Khalifa in Dubai is 828 metres.LUKE MACGREGOR/Reuters

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Commuter trains are seen at dawn on the approach to London Bridge rail station in an aerial photograph from The View gallery Jan. 8.STEFAN WERMUTH/Reuters

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St Paul’s cathedral is lit by the early morning sun as seen from The View gallery. St. Paul’s Cathedral is 111 metres compared to the Shard’s 310.STEFAN WERMUTH/Reuters

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Tower Bridge on the Thames River. Tourists in The View gallery can see as far as 65 kilometres.LUKE MACGREGOR/Reuters

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A view up at the ‘shards’ of glass that form the 15-floor spire of the skyscraper, taken from the 244-metre-high public viewing gallery on Level 72.LUKE MACGREGOR/Reuters

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Tower Bridge and the Canary Wharf financial district (at rear) are viewed at dusk. The Shard has 11,000 glass panels and 44 elevators.ANDREW WINNING/Reuters

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Toilets are pictured on the 69th floor at the Shard. The skyscraper includes several floors of exclusive apartments.STEFAN WERMUTH/Reuters

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An employee poses at a window in The View gallery, Jan. 9. The Shard was funded by the Qatar National Bank.LUKE MACGREGOR/Reuters

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St Paul’s cathedral and the financial district are seen at dusk.ANDREW WINNING/Reuters

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Tower Bridge and the museum warship HMS Belfast on the Thames River are seen from The View gallery Jan. 9.LUKE MACGREGOR/Reuters

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A woman looks over the financial district from a window in The View gallery.LUKE MACGREGOR/Reuters

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Big Ben clock and the Houses of Parliament are seen at dusk in an aerial photograph from The View gallery Jan. 8. Big Ben is 96 metres tall.ANDREW WINNING/Reuters

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A man looks out at the financial district. The Shard won’t be Western Europe’s tallest tower for long – the 339-metre Mercury City Tower in Moscow is due for completion by the end of the year.LUKE MACGREGOR/Reuters

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Tower Bridge on the Thames River is seen from The View gallery.LUKE MACGREGOR/Reuters

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An employee poses during sunrise as she looks out a window in The View gallery at the Shard Jan. 8, 2013.STEFAN WERMUTH/Reuters

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