Berliners. Despite heavy bombardment, the bunker survived the war more or less undamaged. After the war, the Fichte-Bunker was initially a much needed place of refuge for the displaced. It was used as a juvenile detention facility and as a home for the elderly. It was also typically the first place where refugees from East Germany stayed. Finally it became a homeless shelter, which rented rooms to the needy for 2.50 DM a night. Conditions were notoriously bad; it was called the Bunker der Hoffnungslosen ("Bunker of the Hopeless") and a reporter who went in incognito found it unbearable. The facility was closed for health reasons in 1963 and from then until reunification, the city used the building as a storehouse for part of the Senate Reserve, goods and provisions which the Senate of West Berlin was legally required to maintain in case of a second Berlin Blockade. After 1990, the Fichte-Bunker again stood empty; entrance was only possible on special tours. Luxury housing In September 2006, the State of Berlin's Real Property Fund sold the building and approximately 8,000m2 of land to the newly formed development company SpeicherWerk Wohnbau GmbH. The investors planned to construct luxury 2-storey condominiums on top of the former gasometer and build townhouses and a five-storey apartment building on the land around the building. Despite objections from neighbours to the density of the development, planning permission was granted and work began in December 2007; the freestanding residences were completed in 2009. In spring 2008, there was concern about possible violation of the historic building code, and in summer 2009 the scaffolding around the gasometer was set on fire as part of Action Weeks by squatters and opponents of demolition of housing to build for the rich. In spring 2010, completion of the "Circlehouse" of 13 condominiums on top of the bunker was announced. Designed by architect Paul Ingenbleek and engineer Michael Ernst, they have rooftop gardens in front of the lower storey and front walls of steel and glass and are reached by means of a bridge from a tower which contains a lift and stairs. References External links Reiner Janick and Gudrun Neumann, Bunkereinbau Gasometer Fichtestraße, Berliner Unterwelten e.V. (German) Aro Kuhrt, Der Fichtebunker, Berlin:Street, Berlin für Neugierige (German) SpeicherWerk Wohnbau GmbH Project site (German) Stop-motion film of 3 days' construction on top of the Fichte-Bunker, 8 March 2008 (YouTube) Buildings and structures in