Swiss Re United Kingdom. In Asia, the group has offices in the following countries: Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea. There are also offices in the Americas: Barbados, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and the United States. Swiss Re is headquartered in Zurich where the parent company’s main premises has stood on the shores of Lake Zurich since 1864. Its London office is located in the award-winning 30 St Mary Axe tower, which opened on 25 May 2004. 30 St Mary Axe is London's first environmentally sustainable tall building. Among the building's most distinctive features are its windows, which open
St. Helen's (skyscraper) Axe, in the City of London, which it desired to develop as its new headquarters. The site comprised adjacent properties in St Mary Axe and the former Shell building in Great St Helens. At the same time the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company was planning to redevelop its city offices in Leadenhall Street. Due to a number of issues affecting both sites, notably poor access to the Commercial Union site and the restricted width of the Peninsular and Oriental site, it was not possible to obtain planning consents that would optimise the amount of floor space desired by either