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30 St Mary Axe is the first environmentally sustainable skyscraper in London. It has been lovingly described as a lighthouse of 21st century architecture, and mocked as the "gherkin”. It was designed by Foster and Partners and constructed by Skanska. It has become not only an instantly recognizable landmark on London's skyline but an overnight icon of London itself.
The building is stunning in appearance -- a festival of dark and light glass with spandrels
serving as streamers circling it like an Olympic dancer. The outside of the building consists of 24,000 square meters of glass arranged in diamond-shaped panes. Despite its overall curved glass shape, there is only one piece of curved glass on the building — the lens-shaped cap at the very top. At 180 m (590 ft), the building is the 6th tallest in London .On the 40th floor, which is the building's top level, is a bar for tenants and their guests featuring an unrivalled 360 degree view of London. An exclusive restaurant operates on the 39th floor, and private dining rooms on the 38th. The shape allows for the required quantity of office space to accommodate up to 4,000 workers without the lower levels overshadowing the surrounding buildings when viewed from street level, whilst the top tapers inwards in the manner of an organic set-back which does not eclipse the tower's shorter neighbors. The office areas consist of a double-glazed outer layer and a single-glazed inner screen, sandwiching a central ventilated cavity, containing
solar-control glass
. The cavities between the outer layer and inner screen act as a buffer, reducing the need for additional cooling and heating and are ventilated by exhaust air drawn from the offices. The lightwells, which penetrate deep into the tower's interior, reduce dependency on electric lighting and result in savings on electricity costs. The lightwells glazing comprises openable double-glazed panels and a high-performance coating which effectively reduces solar gain (
solar control glass
). The building will consume up to fifty percent less energy than a comparable high profile office tower.
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