How do spiraling gaps between floors help?

They bring in light and fresh air

The Gherkin Quiz: 30 St Mary Axe and Its Diagrid Structure

This The Gherkin quiz looks up at the bullet-shaped tower in the City of London. Play 10 interactive questions on Foster and Partners, 30 St Mary Axe, a height of 180 m, the diagonal steel diagrid, spiraling light wells that help ventilation, the single curved piece of glass at the top, the Baltic Exchange site, the Stirling Prize and the restaurant dome.

Start the Gherkin Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

City
In which city is the Gherkin?
Address
What is its official address?
Firm
Which architecture firm designed it?
Open
When did it open?
Height
About how tall is the Gherkin?
Frame
What is the structure's steel grid called?
Air
How do spiraling gaps between floors help?
Glass
How many curved glass panes does it have?
Site
What stood on the site before?
Prize
Which prize did it win in 2004?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: In which city is the Gherkin?
Answer: London
It is in the financial district.
Q2: What is its official address?
Answer: 30 St Mary Axe
Gherkin is a nickname.
Q3: Which architecture firm designed it?
Answer: Foster and Partners
Norman Foster leads it.
Q4: When did it open?
Answer: 2004
Construction finished in 2003.
Q5: About how tall is the Gherkin?
Answer: 180 m
It has 41 floors.
Q6: What is the structure's steel grid called?
Answer: A diagrid
Diagonal steel carries the loads.
Q7: How do spiraling gaps between floors help?
Answer: They bring in light and fresh air
This cuts energy use.
Q8: How many curved glass panes does it have?
Answer: Only one, at the very top
The rest are flat.
Q9: What stood on the site before?
Answer: The Baltic Exchange
A 1992 bomb damaged it.
Q10: Which prize did it win in 2004?
Answer: The Stirling Prize
It honors the best British building.

A Curved Tower With a Steel Net

30 St Mary Axe, nicknamed the Gherkin, rises about 180 m with 41 floors in the City of London. Designed by Foster and Partners, led by Norman Foster, it was completed in 2003 and opened in 2004 on the site of the Baltic Exchange, damaged by a bomb in 1992.

Its rounded shape is carried by a diagrid, a net of diagonal steel members that supports the building and frees the floors of internal columns. Gaps between floors spiral up the tower, bringing in daylight and fresh air and reducing energy use.

Although the tower looks curved, its glass panels are flat, and only one curved piece of glass sits at the very top, crowning a restaurant dome. The building won the Stirling Prize in 2004 and became a symbol of London's skyline.

What This Quiz Teaches

Architecture fans will enjoy these questions.

Where it stands
Who designed it
How the structure works
What the glass is like
Which prizes it won

Did You Know?

The rounded shape reduces wind at street level.
Dark glass marks the spiral light wells.
It appears in many films.
Ken Shuttleworth worked on the design.
Nearby towers include the Cheesegrater.