The European Central Bank or ECB is seated at the East end of Frankfurt. The premises include the former Wholesale Market Hall (Großmarkthalle), a new 185/165 m twin-tower skyscraper and a new low-rise building to connect the two. It was completed in 2014 and was officially opened on March 18, 2015.
The newly built main office building consists of two towers that are joined by an atrium with four interchange platforms. The North tower has 45 storeys and a roof height of 185 m (607 ft), whereas the South tower has 43 storeys and a roof height of 165 m (541 ft). With the antenna, the North tower reaches a height of 201 m (659 ft). The new ECB premises furthermore comprises the Grossmarkthalle, a former wholesale market hall built from 1926-1928 and fully renovated for its new purpose. In 1999, an international architectural competition was launched by the bank to design a new building. It was won by a Vienna-based architectural office called Coop Himmelb(l)au.