In 2008 I found myself working for an Insurance Broker in the City. Their office is in Mitre Street, in the shadow of the tower that everyone calls the "Gherkin". Officially, it's 30 St Mary Axe.
I used to spend my lunch hours in the Gherkin plaza just taking in the symmetry of the excellent design and construction that makes this building one of the best in Europe.
I always wanted to go inside and one day a colleague, who knew someone who worked there, managed to get me into the restaurant on the top floor (floor 39). The food wasn't very spectacular, but the view certainly was.
Bearing in mind that you have to photograph everything through curved glass (lots of reflections and flare) and it was a very dull day, I was quite amazed at some of the pictures I took.
The ceiling of the 39th floor, Tower Bridge and HMS Belfast.
Canary Wharf, the London Eye and the 2012 Olympic Stadium.
Top: Tower of London. Bottom: Looking west down the Thames - Waterloo Bridge, Hungerford Bridge and Cleopatra's Needle.
Below: Lunchtime at the plaza on a typical summer's day. Seasonal refreshment from the Sterling, a pub on the ground floor of the Gherkin.
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