30 St Mary Axe: The Gherkin
30 St. Mary Axe is a 40
story building in the St. Mary Axe area of London. It is recognized as one of
the more distinctive skyscrapers in the financial district of London and it
stands on the former site of the Baltic Exchange building. Its form is so unique,
that it has been given the nickname "the Gherkin."
Architect and Design
The building was designed
by famed architect Norman
Foster of the Foster and Partners architectural firm. They are known for their
innovative approach to design that stands out particularly well against the
more conservative nature of most of London's buildings. The building’s construction
began in 2001 and the Gherkin was finished in December of 2003.
The Gherkin is essentially
an elongated, curved, shaft with a rounded end that is reminiscent of a
stretched egg. It is covered uniformly around the outside with glass panels and
is rounded off at the corners. It has a lens-like dome at the top that serves
as a type of observation deck.
The design of the Gherkin
is heavily steeped in energy efficiency and there are a number of building
features that enhance its efficiency. There were open shafts built in between
each floor that act as ventilation for the building and they require no energy
for use. The shafts pull warm air out of the building during the summer and use
passive heat from the sun to bring heat into the building during the winter.
These open shafts also allow available sunlight to penetrate deep into the
building to cut down on light costs. It has been said that 30 St. Mary Axe uses
only half of the energy that a similarly-sized tower would use.
Current Use
Today, the Gherkin is
primarily an office building.
It is the headquarters of many large companies including Swiss Re and some of
the offices of Sky News. Some very popular television shows and radio shows are
filmed here or near this building today.
General Facts
Created the form in Rhino.
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| Figure 3. |
Created the model in Grasshopper.
Step 1. Created a circle and copy and move it 39 times to the up to generate 40 stories.
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| Figure 4. |
Step 2. Generated the geometry of the building using commands Scale and Graph mapper.
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| Figure 5. |
Step 3. Created a diamond pattern on the surface by rotating the divided points on the surface and using the Interpolated Curve command.
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| Figure 6. |
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| Figure 7. |
Step 4. Created diamond pattern frames on the surface using the command Loft.
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| Figure 8. |
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| Figure 9. |
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| Figure 10. |
Step 5. Created a diamond pattern on the surface by installing Lunchbox on the grasshopper and using the command diamond. Then created two different colors using the command Dispatch.
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| Figure 11. |
Step 6. Created a parametric, physically-based model using Kangaroo and Weaverbird.
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| Figure 12. |
Step 7. Analyzed the curves in terms of geometry using the command Color Mapper.
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| Figure 13. |
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