The building has become a recognisable landmark of London, and it is one of the city's most widely recognised examples of contemporary architecture. It won the 2003 Emporis Skyscraper Award.
The Gherkin is significant as being one of a phase of tall building proposals for central London, which is otherwise relatively low-rise compared to other world cities. The site was formerly home to the Baltic Exchange (built in 1903) before it was damaged by an Irish Republican Army bomb in 1992.
What is The Gherkin? The Gherkin, otherwise known as 30 St Mary Axe, is one of the capital's most famous buildings. It's a feature of the London skyline and home to offices, a restaurant and a cocktail bar.
The building was dubbed “The Gherkin” for its easily recognizable, pickle-esque curved shape. The structure expands slightly outward as it rises from the ground and then tapers to a curved point. This shape creates greater public space at the base of the building while reducing swirling wind.
“Although more often likened to a vegetable, the famous 180m high Gherkin tower in London (30 St Mary Axe) was actually inspired by a curious marine animal known as Venus's flower basket sea sponge.
Gherkin sale: London's iconic skyline 'worth £7.2bn' London's Gherkin skyscraper has been sold to investment giant the Safra Group in a deal reportedly worth £726m.
East. Reveals the financial heart of the city, with the towering skyscrapers of the City of London and Canary Wharf. The Gherkin, Cheesegrater, and Walkie Talkie buildings are prominent. The winding Thames also leads your eye towards Greenwich and the O2 Arena, giving you incredible views from the London Eye.
The word gherkin comes from early modern Dutch gurken or augurken, 'small pickled cucumber'. Cornichons, or baby pickles, are tart French pickles made from gherkins pickled in vinegar and tarragon.
The gherkin, which is much smaller than the cucumber, usually grows outdoors without a trellis. Gherkin plants produce both male and female flowers. Once the flower has been pollinated, fruits will grow. With more modern breeds, pollination is not necessary because the plants produce purely female fruits.
Searcys Champagne and Cocktail Bar is located on the 40th-floor dome of The Gherkin. Open to all, guests will find themselves eye-to-eye with the city's skyscrapers whilst enjoying an extensive cocktail, wine and Champagne list as unique as the location.
(The church that remains in the modern-day St Mary Axe is St Andrew Undershaft.) Its full name was St Mary, St Ursula and her 11,000 Virgins, and it was also sometimes referred to as St Mary Pellipar. Its common name (also St Mary [or Marie] at the Axe) derives from the sign of an axe over the east end of the church.
An icon of London's skyline with its distinctive curved glass shape which gave it its Gherkin nickname, the skyscraper was built by reinsurer Swiss Re in 2004 and was sold to IVG and Evans Randall in 2007 for 600 million pounds ($950 million).
The history of pickles takes us back nearly 4 millennia, to the Tigris valley in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq). People said the area's gherkin farmers discovered how brine could preserve their products for the lean months. Needless to say, gherkins have played an important role in helping humanity expand its horizons.
Searcys Helix restaurant at The Gherkin offers sky-high contemporary dining with majestic views across the city. A proud celebration of British produce in one of London's finest landmarks, the menus put seasonal and local produce at centre stage.
The Gherkin is primarily a private office building, but the public can visit by booking a table at Searcys restaurant or bar on the top floors. Access to other areas is restricted to tenants and their guests.
What is the dress code? Casual elegance. We welcome and encourage style, however, we kindly ask that guests refrain from wearing shorts, flip flops and sportswear.
Start your lifelong journey together among spectacular views of London at this icon of modern architecture. Weddings at The Gherkin can be as individual, distinctive and unique as you wish; you can be assured we will make your big day everything you have ever imagined.
Gherkin is a plain-text, simply-structured language that is easy for nonprogrammers to learn and understand. It's also sophisticated enough to give investors to-the-point descriptions of test scenarios without confusing them.
It will be about 564 feet taller than the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, designed by Smith while he was working at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, which currently holds the record for the world's tallest skyscraper. When complete, Jeddah Tower will soar 3,281 feet above Saudi Arabia.
What To Know. Designed by Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill, founders of the Chicago-based firm Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (AS+GG), the Jeddah Tower is set to reach unprecedented heights and surpass Burj Khalifa in the United Arab Emirates—the current world's tallest building, which was also designed by Smith.
