The Gherkin, City of London

The Gherkin is only a nickname of this office building at 30 St Mary Axe.

The Gherkin was designed by Norman Foster and built in 2003 on the site of the old Baltic Exchange.

It's for sale if you're interested. £550m.


The street called St Mary Axe is on the site of the medieval church St Mary Axe which was demolished in 1561. The name refers to the axe used by animal skinners, as the church was paid for by the trade association for skinners - The Worshipful Company of Skinners. One of London's ancient livery companies.

When livery companies were started, the Lord Mayor of London numbered them. The Company of Mercers applied first and was numbered 1. Mercers were general traders.

In April 1484 both the Skinners and Merchant Taylors applied to the Lord Mayor on the same day, and rather than decide which should be 6 and which 7, he decided to let the two companies have a boat race on the Thames each year, and the winner for that year would be 6 and the loser 7.

Hence the phrase, "I'm all at sixes and sevens" when people are confused about something.