The Baltic Exchange was a building located at 24-28 St Mary Axe in London and occupied by Baltic Exchange Ltd, a provider of information on maritime transportation markets. A historic landmark, the Baltic Exchange building was architecturally known for its cathedral-like trading hall and its stained glass. It was destroyed in a bombing in 1992. The site is now occupied by "The Gherkin".
Video Baltic Exchange (building)
Construction
The historic building was designed by Smith and Wimble and completed by George Trollope & Sons in 1903: it was subsequently listed as a Grade II* listed building.
Maps Baltic Exchange (building)
Bombing of the exchange building
On 10 April 1992 at 9:20 pm, the façade of the Exchange's offices at 24-28 St Mary Axe was partially demolished, and the rest of the building was extensively damaged in a huge Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) bomb attack. The one-ton bomb killed three people whilst 91 were wounded. The bombing came a day after the General Election.
Aftermath
Architectural conservationists wanted to reconstruct what remained from the bombing, as it was the last remaining exchange floor in the City of London. English Heritage, the government's statutory conservation adviser, and the City of London Corporation insisted that any redevelopment must restore the building's old façade onto St Mary Axe. Baltic Exchange, unable to afford such an expensive undertaking alone, sold the site to Trafalgar House in 1995. The remaining sculptures and masonry of the structurally unstable façade block on the site were photographed and dismantled before the sale; the interior of the Exchange Hall, which was regarded as stable, was initially sealed from the elements in the hope that it would be preserved in situ in any new development, but was subsequently dismantled and stored offsite in 1995-96.
English Heritage later discovered that the damage was far more severe than they had previously thought. Accordingly, they stopped insisting on a full restoration. What remained of Exchange Hall was completely razed in 1998 with the permission of the planning minister John Prescott over the objections of architectural preservationists, including Save Britain's Heritage, who sought a judicial review of his decision.
The site, together with that of the Chamber of Shipping at 30-32 St Mary Axe, was used to built 30 St Mary Axe, commonly referred to as "The Gherkin".
The stained glass of the Baltic Exchange war memorial, which had only suffered superficial damage in the bomb blast, has been restored and is in the National Maritime Museum.
Architectural salvage
Its classic red granite, coloured marble, Portland stone, and much of the original plaster interiors that survived the bomb were first stored in a Reading warehouse before being sold in 2003 to salvage dealer Derek Davies, who moved them to Cheshire. Davies put the elements on SalvoWEB in February 2003, finally selling the 1,000 tonnes or more to salvage dealer Dennis Buggins in late 2005. Buggins then moved the elements from Cheshire to various barns around Canterbury in Kent.
Sale of building and new life
After years on the market, in June 2006 an Estonian businessman, Eerik-Niiles Kross, found an advertisement for the components of the Baltic Exchange building on SalvoWEB while trawling the web for reclaimed flooring. He and his business partner Heiti Hääl bought the Baltic Exchange elements for £800,000 from Dennis Buggins of Extreme Architecture, and the 49 containers were shipped via Felixstowe to Tallinn in June 2007. They vowed to rebuilt the building in central Tallinn like "Lego". The sold components include fifty crates with arches, staircases, marble columns, Britannia and others.
Site planning and construction has been postponed as of 2010 due to the financial crisis. In June 2016 an exhibition was held to allow visitors to see the building's pediment. Due to planning conflicts, the components are still stored in their shipping containers for a decade
Film location
Prior to its bombing in 1992, the Baltic Exchange building was used as one of the film locations for Howards End, released in 1992. The film was an adaptation of E. M. Forster's novel by the same name.
References
Source of article : Wikipedia
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