I like to talk about a building! which is looked different!
Gherkin! Yes Gherkin, but not the one that found in the sandwiches. (hahaha) I like this Building, because I found it different from traditional buildings. In my opinion, all buildings are look like a CUBE. In spite of this fact that Gherkin has been named Erotic Gherkin, the Towering Innuendo and Crystal Phallus; but it is a innovation in architectural designing. It is look like a building in a Science Fiction Film.
30 St Mary Axe or (as known by everybody) the Gherkin stands on the former site of the Baltic Exchange building, which was severely damaged on 10 April 1992 by the explosion of a bomb placed by the Provisional IRA. It was constructed by Skansa completed in December 2003 and opened on 28 April 2004.
The primary occupant of the building is Swiss Re, a global reinsurance company, who had the building commissioned as the head office for their UK operation. As owners, their company name lends itself to another nickname for the building, variants on Swiss Re Tower, although this has never been an official title. (Building, 2009)
The building uses energy-saving methods which allow it to use half the power a similar tower would typically consume. (Building, 2009) Gaps in each floor create six shafts that serve as a natural ventilation system for the entire building even though required fire breaks on every sixth floor interrupt the "chimney." The shafts create a giant double glazing effect; air is sandwiched between two layers of glazing and insulates the office space inside.
The building is 180m high, and the 76,400m2 area inside includes 34 floors of office space, retail areas on the ground floor, three floors of restaurants and a reception hall at the top.
Read more: http://www.building.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=3111783#ixzz0kG0aCdky
