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
St Mary and St Peter's Church, Harlaxton of Queen's College, Oxford. St Mary and St Peter’s received a National Heritage Grade I building listing in 1966. An archeological Watching Brief was held in 2005 during trench groundwork at the south, west and north of the church to establish pipes for a new heating system. During the work evidence of earlier building was not discovered but a stone fragment was uncovered together with a number of small bones and a skull. St Mary and St Peter's received funding for repairs to epitaphs from The Society of Antiquaries of London under its "William and Jane Morris Fund". St Mary