Tenants shun Shard – leaving Europe's first vertical city up in the air
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Soaring 310 metres (1,016ft) high and with 72 storeys, everything about the Shard is dramatic.
The London Bridge skyscraper – the capital's newest landmark, with views stretching 40 miles and which is visible to drivers crawling around the M25 – bills itself as "Europe's first vertical city".
It is the highest building in western Europe and, together with the Place, a 17-storey "baby Shard" next door, it cost its Qatari backers £1.5bn.
The skyscraper's observation deck can be hired out for corporate events at £30,000 an hour and tables at its three restaurants are reported to be in huge demand.
But despite the stunning design by the Italian architect Renzo Piano and glamorous marketing, almost a year after its opening the building remains practically a shell.
