This is a low-res textured Google Earth model of “The Gherkin” aka the Swiss Re tower, a 180m skyscraper in London’s main financial district, the City of London.

Built in 2004, the  building is on the site of the historic Baltic Exchange,  which was badly damaged by a terrorist bomb in 1992, and after unsuccsessful lobbying by conservation groups, controversally demolished in 1998.

Architects, Foster and Partners, designed the distinctive bullet shape to reduce wind turbulence around the building.  Each of the 40 floors is rotated by 5 deg from the one below. Gaps around the edges of each floor provide 6 ‘natural’ twisting ventilation shafts, visible on the outside as darker coloured glass, which help contribute towards considerable energy-savings over other similar sized towers.

Despite it’s overall curved shape the Gherkin only contains one piece of curved glass - a lens shaped cap at the very top.

The model was made using SketchUp and blender.

The ‘Gherkin’, 3D Model
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