30 St Mary Axe 30 St Mary Axe 30 St Mary Axe (known previously as the Swiss Re Building) is a commercial skyscraper in London's primary financial district, the City of London. It was completed in December 2003 and opened in April 2004. With 41 floors, it is tall and stands on the former sites of the Baltic Exchange and Chamber of Shipping, which were extensively damaged in 1992 by a bomb placed by the Provisional IRA in St Mary Axe, a narrow street leading north from Leadenhall Street. After plans to build the 92-storey Millennium Tower were dropped, 30 St Mary Axe was
30 St Mary Axe not recoverable, forcing them to relax their building constraints; they hinted that an "architecturally significant" building might obtain a favourable reception from City authorities. This gave the architect a free hand in the design; it eliminated the restrictive demands for a large, capital-efficient, money-making building, whose design was per the client's desire. The new building's low-level plan satisfied the planning authority's desire to maintain London's traditional streetscape, with its narrow streets. The mass of the tower was not too imposing. Like Barclays Bank's former City headquarters in Lombard Street, the idea was that the passer-by in neighbouring streets would be