Olympic House to officially open on Olympic Day

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will officially inaugurate its new headquarters on 23 June during the celebration of Olympic Day. In 2019 this symbolic day will mark the 125th anniversary of the creation of the IOC.

The inauguration of Olympic House will be the culmination of a journey that started back in 2014 when the IOC decided to move ahead with the consolidation of its head office.

A sustainable investment

Olympic House is a privately funded investment in sustainability. The sustainability approach is threefold:

• It has the strong ambition to meet the most demanding sustainability standards both locally and internationally. It has been designed as a sustainable building in terms of both construction and operations, with special efforts put into energy and water efficiency, waste reduction and landscape integration.

• It aims to regroup all IOC staff in one location, resulting in cost savings and increased collaboration.

• It also represents an investment by the IOC in the local economy and development. Eighty per cent of the construction of the building has been completed by local companies and contributed to the development of local competencies.

   

All IOC staff under one roof

Designed by Danish architecture firm 3XN, Olympic House will allow the IOC to bring together its staff – 500 employees currently spread across Lausanne in four locations – under one roof at a single site. Selected by the IOC in April 2014 after an international architecture competition, 3XN partnered with Swiss architects IttenBrechbühl to oversee the construction of the project.

From 23 June onwards, the IOC will benefit from two Olympic centres in Lausanne: Olympic House in Vidy to cater for its administration and offer a welcoming meeting place for all its stakeholders; and The Olympic Museum in Ouchy to host the general public.

Attachment to Lausanne, the Olympic Capital

With this new building, the IOC confirms its attachment to Lausanne, the Olympic Capital. Developed in close consultation with the local authorities, Olympic House will offer the region an emblematic architectural landmark and become an important element of the local Louis Bourget public park, which welcomes a diverse group of visitors every year.

A collaborative model

Olympic House is a unique example of innovative collaboration between many different stakeholders, including the IOC, the Worldwide Olympic Partners (Dow, Toyota and Panasonic), 3XN and IttenBrechbühl, sustainability certification bodies, local authorities, suppliers and academics.

For further information on Olympic House, please contact:

IOC Press Office:
Emmanuelle Moreau, +41 21 621 6000 / pressoffice@olympic.org / https://www.olympic.org/olympic-house/

Dow:
Linda Lim: +65 9626 7662 / llim2@dow.com / www.dow.com

Architects:
3XN: Elizabeth Kubany, +1 212 9511895 / www.3xn.com
IttenBrechbühl: Florence Auras, +41 21 311 91 35 / media@ittenbrechbuehl.ch / https://www.ittenbrechbuehl.ch/fr

City of Lausanne:
Sabrina Attias, +41 21 315 42 15 / http://www.lausanne.ch

Background information:
The Olympic House project timeline

• December 2012: Presentation of the feasibility study for the consolidation of the IOC headquarters to the Executive Board.

• March 2013: Launch of the international architecture competition.

• June 2013: Selection, by the architecture competition jury, of the 12 architects invited to develop a project for the new IOC headquarters.

• July 2013: Briefing of selected architects on site in Lausanne, including the handover of the architecture competition programme developed with the IOC staff.

• December 2013: Choice of the architecture competition winners by the competition jury and the IOC Executive Board.

• January 2014: Launch of the Parallel Development Studies with the three architecture competition winners.

• April 2014: Choice of the preferred architecture partner for the consolidation of the IOC headquarters by the Executive Board.

• June 2014: Creation of the architecture consortium between 3XN and IttenBrechbühl.

• December 2014: Presentation of the Olympic House project to the 127th IOC Session.

• 3 March - 2 April 2015: Deconstruction permit public inquiry.

• 10 April 2015: 100-year anniversary of the IOC in Lausanne.

• 30 June - 30 July 2015: Request for the Olympic House building permit.

• 8 December 2015: Symbolic laying of the first stone of the new IOC headquarters.

• February 2016: Launch of archaeological studies at the Vidy site and start of deconstruction. 

• Summer 2016: Construction starts on Olympic House.

• 23 June 2019: Inauguration.

About the IOC
The International Olympic Committee is a not-for-profit independent international organisation made up of volunteers, which is committed to building a better world through sport. It redistributes more than 90 per cent of its income to the wider sporting movement, which means that every day the equivalent of USD 3.4 million goes to help athletes and sports organisations at all levels around the world.

About Dow
As the Official Chemistry Company of the Olympic Games, and the Official Carbon Partner of the IOC, Dow combines science and technology knowledge to develop premier materials science solutions that help the IOC deliver its carbon neutrality objective. With a long heritage of innovation and leadership in both high-performance sports and sustainability solutions, Dow has been a supplier of technologies for the Olympic Games since 1980. 

About 3XN
3XN Architects is a Copenhagen-based studio with more than 30 years’ experience. At the core of 3XN’s design philosophy is the principle that architecture, if done correctly, can shape behaviour. This happens through careful analysis of the site, the surrounding buildings and the client aspirations. Among 3XN’s high-profile projects are The Blue Planet (National Aquarium) (2013), Royal Arena (2017), in Copenhagen, Museum of Liverpool (2011), Quay Quarter Tower (2020) and the New Sydney Fish Market (2023) in Sydney.

About IttenBrechbühl
Founded in 1922, IttenBrechbühl is one of the leading Swiss architecture offices, with over 300 staff specialising in big and complex projects. Among the 100 projects per year carried out by the office are the Dolder Grand Hotel (2008), the Terminal Airside centre in Zürich Airport (2013), Geneva Main Station (2014), the headquarters for RTL Group Luxembourg (2016), the Chaplin’s World museum (2016), the Vortex, the building for the Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne (2019) and the new campus of the Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne (2019).