My Favourite Building – The Gherkin

MY FAVOURITE Building makes a welcome return this week as Jonathan Robinson, below, associate director in the Birmingham office of real estate advisors DTZ, takes a look at one of the capital’s most instantly recognisable landmarks.

If you would like to take part in ‘My Favourite Building’, please email tamlyn.jones@thebusinessdesk.com.

Known as the site for the Millennium Tower and also referred to as the Swiss Re Tower, The Gherkin or 30 St Mary Axe to give it its official name, has transformed the London skyline since its completion in 2003.

Commissioned by global reinsurance company Swiss Re, the building officially opened in 2004 to a rapturous reception. The statistics about the Gherkin are bewildering.

Forty floors of high quality office space including retail space at the base of the property, the building is over 180 metres tall and situated on the former site of The Baltic Exchange. It is the second tallest building in the Square Mile and the sixth tallest in London.

What I admire about The Gherkin is its ability to blend both modern and classical architectural styles to create a truly magnificent building offering stunning 360 degree views of the capital. Designed by renowned architect Norman Foster, St Mary Axe seamlessly combines modern architecture and cutting edge design but with a nod to London’s historical heart, namely in the form of its impressive dome, an echo perhaps of St Paul’s Cathedral.

The Gherkin’s base is a circle while its distinctive structure is formed by a grid of triangles, called a diagrid. The building is also one of the greenest in London using energy-saving methods which means it utilises half the power a similar tower would consume.

Gaps in each floor create six shafts that serve as a natural ventilation system for the entire building. They also allow daylight to flood down onto all floors which means it can operate without air conditioning at certain times of the year.

The bullet-like shape of the Gherkin, slightly narrower at the base, also makes it appear less bulky that a rectangular building and importantly creates public space at street level. Interestingly, although the building has an appearance of an overall curved glass shape, there is only one piece of curved glass – the lens-shaped cap at the very top.

Unsurprisingly, The Gherkin won the Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize in 2004. It also has the honour of being the most expensive office building in Britain following its purchase in 2007 by IVG Immobilien AG and UK investment firm Evans Randall for £630m.

While many critics were concerned the structure would detract from London’s skyline, it has managed to seamlessly complement and enhance it which is no easy feat.