30 St Mary Axe to flight paths for both London City and London Heathrow airports; the revised plan for a lower tower was accepted. The tower's topmost panoramic dome, known as the "lens", recalls the iconic glass dome that covered part of the ground floor of the Baltic Exchange and much of which is now displayed at the National Maritime Museum. "The Gherkin" nickname was applied to the current building at least as long ago as 1999, referring to that plan's highly unorthodox layout and appearance. On 23 August 2000, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott granted planning permission to construct a building much larger
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