Marble Arch Mound was supposed to be a impressive new attraction offering sweeping views of the centre of London and Hyde Park.
Unfortunately it turned out to be a massive (and much-memed) disappointment after it ended up looking like a ‘trash-heap’.
But not all viewing platforms are quite such a monumental let-down.
Unlike the Marble Arch Mound planners, we’ve done our homework and selected six of the most stunning panoramas that you can visit for yourself.
From glass bridges spanning remote canyons and alpine vistas to a spot on the highest building in the world, here are the places to go for a real view.
Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge, China
Some footbridges briefly cross rivers or railways. This transparent, quarter-mile-long wonder extends over a canyon in the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, higher even than cliffs that peek up from its dense, jungly lowlands.
Stepping along its glass surface, 984ft above the ground, is an adrenal experience of the kind China loves. Since this record-breaking stomach churner opened, a still-longer version has opened near the northern city of Shijiazhuang.
The bridge at Zhangjiajie does, however, officially boast the world’s highest bungee-jumping platform.
Tour operator China Highlights has excellent advice for would-be visitors and can arrange packages.
Tickets from £15.
At the Top, Burj Khalifa SKY, Dubai
Prefer indoor observation platforms? Try the world’s tallest building. While two successive 360-degree viewing decks on Burj Khalifa’s 124th and 125th floors are already impressive, venture to the 148th floor for maximum vertigo.
Packages cover both a 30-minute stay on the higher deck, then unlimited time on the lower floors – including the outdoor terrace’s uninterrupted views.
Tickets from £75pp.
Marsk Tower, Denmark
A corkscrewing, al fresco wooden staircase with glass guardrails, the new Marsk Tower resembles a paused tornado from afar.
The platform at its 25m summit looks for miles across the Wadden Sea National Park, a huge sprawl of mudflats and salt marshes on continental Denmark’s south-western coast.
Newly opened – alongside an eco-friendly motorhome pitch, a glampsite and a mini-golf course – the tower has been designed by Danish architects BIG. If you can’t trudge up its 146 steps, a lift also serves the top.
Tickets £10.
Grand Canyon Skywalk, USA
Suspended almost a mile above the Colorado River, this horseshoe-shaped glass-floored gangway juts out 68ft from the immense Grand Canyon’s red, rocky western side. The sheer drop below makes walking off the cliff edge feel thrillingly reckless.
Tickets from £42.
Auckland SkyWalk, New Zealand
Not content with its 629ft-high observation deck, Auckland’s Sky Tower’s visitors can don double harnesses to step outside on to a 47in, rail-free ledge.
New Zealand’s largest city will be splayed below if you can look down. The adjacent SkyJump involves a bungee plunge at hurtling speeds.
Tickets from £52pp.
Top of Tyrol, Austria
From this open-air platform’s terrace, extending from the Stubai Glacier’s crest, visitors can gawp at snow-sloshed peaks, many of them across in Italy. All this just five minutes’ walk from the Jochdohle restaurant’s specialist burgers.
Tickets from £17.
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