|
 Use our own TOTALLY FREE research engine to find the website that offers you the best room rate!
|
30 St Mary Axe / Swiss Re Tower Tourist Info30 St Mary Axe is a building in London's main financial district, the City of London. It is also called The Swiss Re Tower, and has a variety of nicknames including "The Gherkin", and occasionally also called Swiss Re Building, Swiss Re Centre, or just Swiss Re, after its previous owner but principal occupier. 30 St Mary Axe is 180 m (590 ft) tall, making it the second-tallest building in the City of London, after Tower 42, and the sixth-tallest in London as a whole. It was designed by Lord Foster and his ex-partner Ken Shuttleworth and Arup engineers, and constructed by Skanska of Sweden between 2001 and 2004.30 St Mary Axe stands on the former site of the Baltic Exchange building, the headquarters of a global marketplace for ship sales and shipping information. A bomb set by the IRA on 10 April 1992 severely damaged the Exchange building and neighbouring structures. As The Exchange Hall was a famous heritage building, the UK government's statutory adviser on historic environment, English Heritage, and the City of London governing body, the Corporation of London, had insisted that the Exchange's old façade on St Mary Axe must be restored. Unable to afford the undertaking, Baltic Exchange sold the land to Trafalgar House in 1995. The remaining structures on the site were carefully dismantled while the interior and façade were preserved and sealed. Then English Heritage found that the damage was far more severe than they had previously envisioned, and they withdrew from insisting on a full restoration, despite objections of the architectural conservationists who wanted a reconstruction. Seeing that the exchange was not recoverable, the planners hinted that an "architecturally significant" building might pass favourably with city authorities. This allowed the architect to design freely; and to create a large, capital-efficient, money-making building that favoured the client. Another major influence was Canary Wharf. Its completion caused an exodus of banks and commercial institutions to the building, with its modern, large floor area. Moreover, the City of London was not approving such mega structures, forcing firms to disperse their staff across many sites. When the City realised that its policies were causing it to lose out on Canary Wharf, it relaxed its opposition to high-rise buildings. In 1996 Trafalgar House submitted a very ambitious plan for the site. They wanted to construct what they call the Millennium Tower. It would be a supertall skyscraper, standing at 370 m (1,200 ft) tall and will have more than 90,000 sq metre of office space. There will also be a public viewing platform at 305 m (1,000 ft). The plan drew much objections, and had to be scrapped. The revised plan for a lower tower was then accepted. The "gherkin" name first appeared in The Guardian newspaper in 1996, referring to that new plan's highly unorthodox layout, and this was enthusiastically adopted by other media and the public. Due to the current building's somewhat phallic appearance, other inventive names have also been used for the building, including the Towering Innuendo, and the Crystal Phallus. 30 St Mary Axe was completed in 2004 and opened on 28 April 2004. In December 2005, 30 St Mary Axe was voted the most admired new building in the world, in a survey of the world's largest firms of architects, as published in 2006 BD World Architecture 200. Getting thereTube: Liverpool Street StationAccess: Open Access |
Return to Skyscrapers, Stadiums & other Modern Architecture of London
Return to London Travel Tips
|
 If you cannot see the above frame window, please click here to read the latest additions to London Travel Tips on a separate page. Return to London Travel Tips Homepage.Read the latest articles in my other websites: AsiaExplorers, World Greatest Sites, Earth Documentary, Exploring America, Happy Jobless Guy, Blogging Manual, The Flowering Garden, New York City Budget Travel Guide, Penang Travel Tips, Singapore Travel Tips, Exploring Malaysia and Travel Photography Workshop.  |
| London Travel Tips and globe logo are trademark and service mark of Timothy Tye. |
|
|
|
London Travel Tips is researched and written by Timothy Tye, universally known as Tim. The information provided is in goodwill and is believed to be correct and up-to-date at time of writing. We disclaim responsible for its usage, and encourage users to recheck the information before their trip. Some photos are provided by Panoramio. Photos provided by Panoramio are under the copyright of their owners. They may only be used under the terms & conditions specified by Panoramio. Photos by third-party owners are captioned and attributed. Photographs that belong to Tim are copyrighted and may not be reused unless you first obtain permission. All of Tim's photographs are available for commercial use under the following licensing terms. Tim is a Christian. Click here to know more about his beliefs. |