The curvilinear tower in the centre of London
The Gherkin
The Gherkin has a fantastic architectural design which uses its aerodynamic form to assist natural ventilation to create an environmental progressive working space.
The design of the building
The building provides high quality offices which optimises the local environment both for the occupants and the surrounding urban spaces.
The key feature of the design is the diagrid, which is a grid of diagonally interlocking steel elements makes the building a highly efficient structure. Overall, nearly 10,000 tonnes of steel was used to make the building??s frame, of which 2400 tonnes was used to build the diagrid and its 360 connecting nodes.
By using extensive 3D computer modelling, the design company Ove Arup defined the required steel sizes and precise geometry for this unconventional building. The form of the building makes the wind flow around its face, minimising wind loads on the structure.
Submitted by: Josevan Vallejo, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 21 January 2007
