From a post on an old PPRuNe thread by
foldingwings:
Laarbruch was built post-WW2 by the Germans as part of their reparation for the war. As it was in the British Sector of West Germany it was allocated to the RAF. When it was discovered that the contractor had hived off a substantial financial gain by building it in metres (or vice versa, I can never remember) the German government was so embarrassed that he was prosecuted and sent down for a considerable number of years (30 if I recall). If you took the ring road to the north side of the airfield in the 70s, when I was on XV, it was a one-way traffic system because the road was built (outside of the spec) too narrow for passing traffic! Also, all the buildings were smaller than planned and consequently, so were the rooms in Blocks 13, 13A & 14 (OM) hence the reduced rent for livers-in!
Mind you, all that aside, it was a bloody good place for a party!!!!!