Church of St Mary Axe the location of the Baltic Exchange until it was destroyed by an IRA bomb in 1992; the Exchange is now located at No. 38 just to the north of its former address. On the site of the old Baltic Exchange now stands 30 St Mary Axe, a skyscraper known colloquially as the Gherkin because of its distinctive shape. The street of St Mary Axe was also the location of the sorcerer's shop in Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta "The Sorcerer", which documents the former pronunciation "Simmery Axe". The church that remains in the modern-day St Mary Axe is St Andrew Undershaft.
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