(ATR) The IOC tells Around the Rings that most its staff has moved out of Vidy headquarters ahead of work to build the $160 million Olympic House.
Around 225 IOC employees cleared their desks for the last time at the building on Friday, with the final group of staff moving out on Monday.
"The deconstruction will not happen until the spring as the building needs be totally emptied and this will take some time," IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau told ATR Monday.
The IOC’s headquarters at Vidy opened nearly 30 years ago. They will be demolished along with the conference center addition that opened in 2008. Chateau de Vidy, built at the turn of the 20th century and office of the IOC president and staff since 1968, will remain.
ATR is told that IOC staff are working from home today but will start in the new offices in Pully on Tuesday. On Tuesday, a sizeable IOC delegation heads to Lillehammer for the Winter Youth Olympics opening Feb. 12.
The temporary office space in the Lausanne suburb of Pully is about 5km east along Lake Geneva.
In December, IOC president Thomas Bach took part in the groundbreaking ceremony for the new IOC headquarters. Olympic House will take four years to build, with the expected opening date in 2020.
When complete the 18,000 square meter headquarters will house 600 IOC staff under one roof for the first time. Lausanne city officials have signed a lease with the IOC through 2115.
The ultra-modernist design by Danish firm 3XN is meant to be "a physical expression of Olympism through architecture", according to an IOC document. The building will cover four main floors with hospitality functions on the ground floor and three levels of office space above. It is to be built to the highest standards of sustainability.
Connecting the floors will be what’s called a "unity staircase" that employs the shape of the five Olympic rings.
Reported by Mark Bisson
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