The bunker was constructed as part of the Sunderland Civic Centre as a sub basement, but was adapted as a nuclear bunker in the 1970s.
It was a subterranean structure 32 m by 7 m made of concrete shuttering and close-set steel sheets, with an entrance in the northeast face of the northernmost hexagon of the Civic Centre complex.
The bunker was equipped with a ventilation system and toilets.
The council offices and bunker were demolished in 2022 and nothing remains.