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
Church of St Mary Axe Church of St Mary Axe St Mary Axe was a mediaeval church in the City of London. 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. The church's patrons were the Skinners' Company. According to John Stow in "A Survey of London" (1603), the name derived from "the signe of an Axe, over against the East end thereof". However, a document