Modern Architecture Building: Swiss Re Building

By Scott Fisher


Lord Foster and his partner Ken Shuttlework, along with Arup engineers, designed The Swiss Re Building; Skanska later built it. Swiss Re Building or as most know it as the Gherkin. The Gherkin is marked as the most recognizable modern architecture landmark in the city of London. The Gherkin was completed on December 2003 and opened up for business on April 28, 2004. The building is the sixth largest building in London which contains 40 floors totally over 180 meters, 516,100 SF, and is located on 30 St. Mary Axe Street in downtown London where the Baltic Exchange use to be. The construction of the Gherkin helped represent an up-coming boom in high-rise construction in London. In designing the Gherkin, they incorporated energy saving methods, which allowed them to use about half the power that a comparable tower might have used. The main method they came up with was to make gaps on each floor which created six shafts that function as a ventilation system. These shafts form a double-glazing effect - air is pushed together between two layers of glazing and then insulates the office areas inside. The main occupant of the Gherkin was Swiss Re-Global Reinsurance Company. The Swiss Re commissioned the building as the head office of the UK operation. Featured on the 40th floor of the Gherkin, is a bar for employees and guests that have a 360° view over London. The two floors that the bar contains is made up of a restaurant and multiple private dining rooms for special occasions. It has been known for one to be able to see the building 20 miles away, which is where the M11 Motorway is.

Image: Modern Architecture written by Anthony Hassell, David Boyle, & Jeremy Harwood