ABSTRACT
Back to the northern hemisphere, to Germany again, for the last of the buildings completed in 1996, Designed to house the ∼500 headquarters staff of the Rheinisch-Westfalische-Electrizitatzwerk (RWE) AG, this 32m diameter, 34-storey tower, and associated seven-storey building is in the centre of the German city of Essen. The site is just one block south of the Central Station, on the east side of the Opernplatz, directly opposite the Alvar Aalto-designed theatre (Figure 15.1). With a height of 120m, Hochhaus RWE is reputed to be the tallest office building in the Ruhr area (Plate 26); and with a completion date of December 1996, it is claimed to be the first ecological high-rise building (at least in Germany) by virtue of its being finished just ahead of the Commerzbank in Frankfurt (seeChapter 3).
