On June 23, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will inaugurate Olympic House, its new headquarters building in Lausanne, Switzerland, whose construction is nearing completion.
The building will allow the IOC to consolidate its staff of more than 500 people, who are currently scattered across several buildings in Lausanne. The design of the new building—by the architectural firms 3NX and IttenBrechbühl—reflects the Committee’s values and mission, according to Thomas Bach, IOC’s president.
Last week, Bach and Kim Herforth Nielsen, 3XN’s cofounder and Principal, presented a preview of Olympic House to the business press at The Plaza Hotel in New York.
The 145 million Swiss Franc (US$146 million) building, with 22,000 sm (236,806 sf) of usable space, will be located within Louis Bourget Park, one of Lausanne’s largest. Part of the park has been incorporated into the building’s design, whose key objectives correspond with the Olympics’ principles of movement, transparency, flexibility, sustainability, and collaboration.
Olympic House is situated within one of Lausanne's largest parks. Image: 3XN
“It’s important to have a story when designing a building,” said Nielsen of Copenhagen-based 3XN, whose design for Olympic House was selected by the IOC Executive Board from 114 entries.
For example, the top of Olympic House is shaped, symbolically, like a dove, representing peace. And in the building’s basement will be a sculpture of an olive tree.
The building façade’s undulating flow pays tribute to athletic movement. The building’s interior—which is supported by only four service cores and 14 pillars—speaks to its structural flexibility. Olympic House is also striving to meet international sustainability standards established by LEED, Minergie (the Swiss energy standard), and SNBS (the Swiss sustainable building standard).
A pumping station will draw water from nearby Lake Geneva to cool and heat the building. Solar panels on the roof will generate 10% of the building’s electricity use, equivalent to the consumption of 60 Swiss households. Olympic House’s shape optimizes daylight coming into the building. The facility will also collect rainwater to recycle for plant irrigation and toilet flushing. (The building’s water consumption is expected to by 60% of a comparable office building.)
A steel-and-wood-clad circular staircase is designed to suggest the five Olympic rings. Image: 3XN
One of the more striking design features of Olympic House is its steel-and-wood-clad Unity Staircase, which soars the full height of the building. Intended to reference the five Olympic rings, the staircase will unify the building’s floors. It is being presented as a visual expression of collaboration between IOC and its stakeholders. (Worldwide, there are 206 national Olympic committees.)
IOC is also collaborating with three worldwide Olympic partners: Dow, which is helping the Committee achieve its carbon neutrality goals; Toyota, which is developing a pilot program to install hydrogen stations in Switzerland for vehicles powered by fuel cells; and Panasonic, which is supplying A/V equipment for Olympic House’s meeting rooms.
IOC’s investment in this project includes the renovation of Le Château de Vidy, an 18th Century castle located within Olympic House’s public space.
Founded in Paris in 1894, IOC has undergone several significant reforms under the leadership of the 65-year-old Bach, a German lawyer and Olympic gold medalist in fencing, who became the Committee’s ninth president in September 2013. These reforms include a commitment to publishing an annual financial report, strengthening the role of its Ethics Committee, and auditing national committees that receive money from IOC. The organization is committed to redistributing 90% of its annual revenue to athletes from developing countries.
Related Stories
| Oct 10, 2014
A new memorial by Zaha Hadid in Cambodia departs from the expected
The project sees a departure from Hadid’s well-known use of concrete, fiberglass, and resin. Instead, the primary material will be timber, curved and symmetrical like the Angkor Wat and other Cambodian landmarks.
| Oct 8, 2014
First look: Woods Bagot unveils plans for new Christchurch Convention Center
The locally-inspired building is meant to serve as a symbol of the city's recovery from the earthquake of 2011.
| Oct 6, 2014
Frank Gehry's $100 million Eisenhower Memorial gets preliminary approval
After a rejection earlier in the year, Frank Gehry has gotten some good news: his revised design for the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial has received approval from the National Capital Planning Commission.
| Oct 2, 2014
Budget busters: Report details 24 of the world's most obscenely over-budget construction projects
Montreal's Olympic Stadium and the Sydney Opera House are among the landmark projects to bust their budgets, according to a new interactive graph by Podio.
| Oct 1, 2014
10 iconic modern buildings first to receive 'Keeping it Modern' conservation grants from the Getty Foundation
Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House and Jørn Utzon’s Sydney Opera House are among the buildings to receive grants.
| Sep 29, 2014
Snøhetta releases final plan for terraced central library in Calgary
The competition-winning New Central Library is now in the final design stages, after two years of community engagement on the part of design firms Snøhetta and DIALOG.
| Sep 25, 2014
Jean Nouvel unveils plans for National Art Museum of China
Of the design, Nouvel describes it as inspired by the simplicity of “a single brush stroke.”
| Sep 24, 2014
Architecture billings see continued strength, led by institutional sector
On the heels of recording its strongest pace of growth since 2007, there continues to be an increasing level of demand for design services signaled in the latest Architecture Billings Index.
| Sep 24, 2014
Frank Gehry's first building in Latin America will host grand opening on Oct. 2
Gehry's design for the Biomuseo, or Museum of Biodiversity, draws inspiration from the site's natural and cultural surroundings, including local Panamaian tin roofs.
| Sep 23, 2014
Third phase of New York’s High Line redevelopment opens
The $35 million Phase 3, known as High Line at the Rail Yards, broke ground September 20, 2012, and officially opened to the public on September 21.
