What is the big cigar shaped building in london?

Question

What is the big cigar shaped building in london?

Answer 1

they call it the gherkin, offices and a restaurant I think.

Answer 2

Its nicknamed the 'gherkin' but it's really called the 'mary axe' and its just a private office block :)

Answer 3

We call it the Ghurkin - The Swiss Re Building.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZOMlTWti...

Answer 4

30 St Mary Axe is a building in London's main financial district, the City of London. It is widely known by the nickname "The Gherkin", and occasionally as a variant on The Swiss Re Tower, after its previous owner and principal occupier. It is 180 metres (591 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. The building's name is its address — St Mary Axe being the street it is on.

The building was designed by Pritzker Prize-winner Lord Norman Foster and ex-partner Ken Shuttleworth and Arup engineers, and was constructed by Skanska of Sweden between 2001 and 2004.

The gherkin name dates back to at least 1999, referring to that plan's highly unorthodox layout. Due to the current building's somewhat phallic appearance, other inventive names have also been used for the building, including the Erotic gherkin, the Towering Innuendo, the Crystal Phallus, and the glass d***o.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/30_St_Mary_...

The tenants are banks, insurance companies and other professionals. The building also has a restaurant and bar.

Buildings official website:

http://www.30stmaryaxe.com

Answer 5

The Gherkin, or 30 St Mary Axe to use its real name, contains the head offices of reinsurance company Swiss Re.

It also contains a restaurant and private dining rooms on the 38th and 39th floors, and there is a private bar on the top (40th) floor for tenants and guests only.

The building was completed in 2004 to a design by Norman (Lord) Foster. It was constructed by Swedish company Skanska.

It occupies the site of the former Baltic Exchange building, which was hit by an IRA terrorist bomb explosion in 1992. This bombing killed three innocent people (including a child) and destroyed the building beyond repair.

Answer 6

Thank god you said "cigar shaped", because it is far less offensive than what I usually think it looks like.*

*Not _that_! A tampon. A shiny tampon.

Answer 7

The Gherkin Building... (well, it's not actually called that)

info about it here for you

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_Re

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/30_St_Mary_...

Answer 8

Gherkin, London, England.

Answer 9

Do you mean the Swiss Re building?