As western Europe's tallest building, The Shard, gets ready to celebrate its first birthday, skepticism about its popularity mounts amid revelations that only six of its 72 floors are in use.
A spokesperson for the owner of the 310m high (1,016 feet) tower, Sellar Property Group, confirmed to CNBC that it remained mostly dormant, despite its high-profile opening ceremony at the start of July 2012.
The Shard, which was designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, has been described as more of a vertical town than a building. The Qatari sovereign wealth fund backed the 2 billion pound ($3 billion) development on the south bank of the River Thames, opposite London's financial district the City of London.