30 St Mary Axe nearly oblivious to the tower's existence until directly underneath it. The building was constructed by Skanska, completed in December 2003 and opened on 28 April 2004. The primary occupant of the building is Swiss Re, a global reinsurance company, which had the building commissioned as the head office for its UK operation. The tower is thus sometimes known as the Swiss Re Building, although this name has never been official and has more recently fallen out of favour, since the company's main headquarters is in Zurich and the Gherkin name has become more popular. The building uses energy-saving methods which
St Mary Colechurch W. Pearce notes that the last traces of any building vanished in 1839 although a Parish Boundary Mark inside the Mercers’ Hall still exists. A plaque commemorates the church on the southwest corner of Old Jewry. The site is currently occupied by the Alliance & Leicester at 82 Cheapside. St Mary Colechurch St Mary Colechurch was a parish church in the City of London destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and not rebuilt. The church was situated at the junction of Poultry and the south end of Old Jewry. Named after its first benefactor, it was a