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 Somerset design of Nicholas Hawksmoor. They create the optical illusion of changing heights when viewed from different vantage points. The pinnacles were taken down after the Second World War, due to bomb damage in the London Blitz, but restored by the City Corporation in 1956. The remains of the church were designated a Grade I listed building on 4 January 1950. The building is currently being refurbished and extended into a private family home by Pilbrow and Partners St Mary Somerset St. Mary Somerset was a church in the City of London first recorded in the twelfth century. Destroyed in the