Krupp tower
Alleestraße 165, 44793 Bochum
Built as the first high-rise building in Bochum after the Second World War, the Krupp high-rise marks as a solitaire the western border of downtown Bochum. The requirements for the construction were above all modernity, representation and a central location to the plants of the Bochumer Verein für Gussstahlfabrikation, a steel works. With a height of 46.2 metres, a length of 59 metres and a width of 14.5 metres, the 13-storey building was able to compete with comparable buildings. The orientation of the building along the north-south axis ensured that all rooms were adequately supplied with daylight.
The elevators and the supply core are not located in the middle of the high-rise bolt, but on the south side at the top. This should make it possible to extend the building if required.
To the east of the high-rise building is a single-storey entrance hall, on the west side a connecting passage leads to a single-storey dining hall.
The facades are regularly structured by a rhythmic grid of 800 window openings. This structure is only broken up on the 12th floor: On the west and east side there is a loggia, behind it the board meeting room. On the ground floor the building is clad with slate, on the upper floors with natural stone slabs. Stainless steel was used for the window frames, the cornice cladding of the outbuildings and the cladding of the 25 concrete pillars of the high-rise.
Architect Wilhelm Seidensticker, who also planned the town hall in Waltrop, implemented all the requirements of a modern administrative high-rise in his design. The floor plan enables maximum economy and functionality, above all due to the flexible interior walls. The high-rise building was already highly praised at its time of construction and awarded the "exemplary building" prize by the Architektenkammer NRW.
Soon afterwards, however, the crisis in the steel industry began and with it the uncertain future of the high-rise. The Bochumer Verein merged with Hütten- und Bergwerke Rheinhausen AG, which belonged to the Krupp Group. From 1965 the building was used by Friedrich-Krupp-Hüttenwerke until the successor company ThyssenKrupp gave up the site in 2006. The building was taken over by a real estate fund, but was largely vacant for years. After interim use by an insurance company, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees moved into most of the 13 floors in 2016. In the course of this, the building was partially renovated. What will happen after the lease expires in 2019 is still unclear.
