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Presenting ... The Gherkin
By Ed Harris, Evening Standard Last updated at 00:00am on 28.11.02
It is already one of the most eyecatching and talked-about landmarks on the London skyline. And tonight the Swiss Re tower in the City will demand further attention when it is lit up by a dazzling light show to mark its completion.
Skanska, the construction company which has built the cigar-shaped tower at 30 St Mary Axe, has organised the 15-minute light and laser show to celebrate "topping out" at the 40-storey building.
At 6pm a final steel beam will be raised to the top of the building and the light display, which will be visible across London, will get under way as the builders celebrate their finished job.
The £150million building - nicknamed the "gherkin" - is the second tallest in the Square Mile after Tower 42, the former NatWest building.
It is the latest contribution to London by Lord Foster, the awardwinning architect behind the Millennium Bridge and the so-called "glass testicle" of City Hall.
The 590ft tower will be home to 3,000 office workers and replaces the Baltic Exchange, one of London's most historic buildings, which was badly damaged by an IRA bomb in 1992.
The tower has been designed with "green" credentials in mind - it will use no artificial heating or ventilation for six months of the year.
Its restaurant will become the capital's highest dining venue - the BT Tower's revolving restaurant stood at 620 feet before a bomb forced its closure in 1971 - when it opens in 2004.
