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Wikipedia: 30 St Mary Axe, also known as the Gherkin and the Swiss Re Building, is a skyscraper in London's main financial district, the City of London, completed in December 2003 and opened at the end of May 2004. With 40 floors, it is 180 metres (591 ft) tall, and 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. After the plans to build the Millennium Tower were dropped, the current building was designed by Norman Foster, his then business partner Ken Shuttleworth and Arup engineers, and was erected by Skanska in 2001–2003.
![[View west from the top floor of the Gherkin]](http://images.ookaboo.com/photo/s/View_from_Gherkin_s.jpg "View west from the top floor of the Gherkin")
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![[The base of the tower]](http://images.ookaboo.com/photo/s/Swiss_re_arp_750pix_s.jpg "The base of the tower")
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 from JaT |
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![[Skyline view with Tower 42, the Willis Building, '30 St Mary Axe' and the Broadgate Tower]](http://images.ookaboo.com/photo/s/Willis_building_skyline_s.jpg "Skyline view with Tower 42, the Willis Building, '30 St Mary Axe' and the Broadgate Tower")
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![[The base of the tower]](http://images.ookaboo.com/photo/s/30_St_Mary_Axe_s.jpg "The base of the tower")
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from Wjfox2005 |
 from Aurelien Guichard |
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