The Exzenterhaus is a commercial office building in

Bochum Bochum (, ; ; ; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 372,348 (April 2023), it is the sixth-largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) in North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous German federa ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Designed by architect Gerhard Spangenberg, the building was constructed on top of an

air raid shelter Air raid shelters are structures for the protection of non-combatants as well as combatants against enemy attacks from the air. They are similar to bunkers in many regards, although they are not designed to defend against ground attack (but ...

built during the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

era.

Overview

The cylindrical bomb shelter stands 22 metres and was constructed in 1942. The structure was built with 520 beds and 52 seats, but would accommodate more than 3,000 people during air raids on Bochum. The bunker was left empty for many years following the war. The city sold the bunker to the builder of the Exzenterhaus for €670,000. Construction on the building started in 2009 and was completed in 2013. The building rises 15 storeys above the top of the bunker and at an overall height of 90.5 metre, it is the tallest building in Bochum. The name Exzenterhaus literately means "eccentric house" in German, which itself is derived from the latin phrase "ex centro", meaning off-centre. The newer portion of the structure is separated in three different five-storey sections shaped like polycentric rings, each which cantilever up to 4.5 meters, giving the impression of a twisting structure. Each of the top fifteen storeys features a balcony when extends in the direction that floor's section's cantilever. The first two floors of the bunker portion of the structure contains a reception area, while the remainder of this portion is used for archival and storage purposes. It is located adjacent the Oskar-Hofmann-Straße station of the

Bochum Stadtbahn The Bochum Stadtbahn is a light rail line in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, linking the cities of Bochum and Herne. It is operated by BOGESTRA, and is integrated into the Rhine-Ruhr Stadtbahn network. It consists of a single ''Stadtbahn'' li ...

References

{{Portal bar, Germany, Architecture Skyscrapers in Germany Skyscraper office buildings in Germany Buildings and structures in Bochum Buildings and structures completed in 2013 Office buildings completed in 2013 2013 establishments in Germany 21st-century architecture in Germany Modernist architecture in Germany