The London Millennium Tower was one of several ideas for the site of the former

Baltic Exchange The Baltic Exchange (incorporated as The Baltic Exchange Limited) is a Trade association, membership organisation for the Maritime transport, maritime industry, and Shipping markets, freight market information provider for the trading and settl ...

at 30 St Mary Axe in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

, which had been destroyed beyond repair by a

Provisional IRA The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...

bomb blast in April 1992. Designed by

Foster + Partners Foster and Partners (also Foster + Partners) is a British international architecture firm with its headquarters in London, England. It was founded in 1967 by British architect and designer Norman Foster. The firm has been involved in the design ...

, for then owner Trafalgar House, the plan was for the building to be the tallest in Europe and the sixth-tallest in the world at that time, behind the twin

Petronas Towers The Petronas Towers (), also known as the Petronas Twin Towers and colloquially the KLCC Twin Towers, are an interlinked pair of 88-storey supertall skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, standing at . From 1996 to 2004, they were the tall ...

in Malaysia, the Sears Tower (now called the

Willis Tower The Willis Tower, formerly and still commonly referred to as the Sears Tower, is a 110-storey, story, skyscraper in the Chicago Loop, Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, United States. Designed by architect Bruce Graham and engineer F ...

) in Chicago, and the twin towers of the

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are the hundreds of sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may also refer to: Buildings * World Trade Center (1973–2001), a building complex that was destroyed during the September 11 at ...

in New York. Its height was planned at , with 92 floors, which means it would have been 48th-tallest in the world as of 2023, and would be overtaken in Europe by the

Federation Tower The Federation Tower () is a complex of two skyscrapers built on the 13th lot of the Moscow International Business Center in Moscow, Russia. The two skyscrapers are named Tower East or Vostok (Russian: Восток; literally means "East") and T ...

. A public viewing platform was planned for above ground level. The scheme featured a highly unorthodox floor layout, essentially two asymmetrical ellipses joined at one end. When the plans were first unveiled in 1996, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' newspaper coined the term "erotic gherkin", a name that other outlets quickly adopted which stuck even after the plan was superseded, eventually becoming

30 St Mary Axe 30 St Mary Axe, previously known as the Swiss Re Building, is a commercial skyscraper in London's primary financial district, the City of London. Its nickname, The Gherkin, is due to its resemblance to the vegetable. It was completed in Decem ...

, the name of a different skyscraper that stands on the site today.

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

had been one of the largest backers of the project until they withdrew their support due to

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...

objecting to the disruption that such a tall building would have on their flight paths. The project was eventually cancelled and the site was sold to

Swiss Re Swiss Re Ltd is a Swiss reinsurance company founded in 1863 and headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland. It is one of the world's largest reinsurers, as measured by gross premiums written. Swiss Re operates through around 80 offices in 29 countri ...

, which created its

headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

, also designed by Foster + Partners.

References

External links

* {{Supertall proposed skyscrapers, state=collapsed Buildings and structures in the City of London Unbuilt buildings and structures in the United Kingdom Foster and Partners buildings