30 St Mary Axe – The Gherkin, London (2004)

Clients Swiss Re wanted a landmark building and they certainly got it from Foster and Partners, but they got more than just a shiny new logo for their previously little known re-insurance business. They also got a building loved by Londoners – the 40-storey tapering skyscraper became a popular icon on the city skyline. Foster and Partners have created an office building that is both visually interesting and environmentally innovative.

This was the first office building to win the RIBA Stirling Prize and the first to be voted for unanimously by the Stirling judges.

The shape, which has been likened to a gherkin, is aerodynamic in form and maximises the amount of natural lighting. Windows onto the building’s atria also provide natural ventilation. The resulting office block uses 50% less energy than a conventional building.

One side of the office zone adjacent to a light well is offered as a communal service area. Usually, and particularly in high-rise developments, such areas are relegated to some windowless corner. Here, by contrast, whether socialising, photocopying or making tea, staff are treated to magnificent views of the City.

Internally the ground floor lift lobby is suitably elegant, and the bar area at the top responds to the challenges and opportunities of elevation, situation and 360-degree views, making it one of the very best rooms in 21st century London. At last London is claiming back the vantage points that it deserves. If only security limitations allowed it to be publicly accessible…

Foster and Partners
Commissioned 1997
Completed 2004

Be Sociable, Share!