Olympic House on Schedule for 2019

(ATR) Olympic Day 2019 will be particularly meaningful for the IOC and its Lausanne staff.

June 23, 2019 is the date planned to dedicate the new headquarters that’s been under construction since 2016.

The exterior of the five-story building is nearing completion while work crews fit out the interior spaces.

For anyone with a good memory of the former headquarters this building replaces, the new edifice is a startling sight. The size of the building, 16,000 square meters, dwarfs the two-story predecessor. The old glass and marble headquarters has been ground into pieces that were incorporated into the foundation of the new Olympic House. Danish firm 3XN is the architect of the fluid, floating building on the shore of Lake Geneva.

During a visit to the site in mid-July, gravel was being spread as the base for a greenspace on the west side of the building. The landscaped area will include placement of the marble archway that once served as the entrance to the old headquarters, which opened in 1986. The space will be planted with 120 trees, 50 more than were on the site prior to construction.

The 18th century Chateau de Vidy that served as the IOC Presidential office is under protective shrouding while the new building goes up. The façade of the heritage building cannot be altered, but the interior is being fully modernized into facilities that can be used by visiting IOC members.

More than 500 staff are scattered about the Lausanne metropolitan area. The biggest group is quartered in an office tower in the suburb of Pully that is serving as temporary headquarters.

Nicolas Rogemond, who serves as the man with answers about the building for IOC staff, says work is on schedule. He says that means a ribbon-cutting next June 23. Staff will likely be setting up shop prior to that date.

It could be the last move for IOC staff for a while. The new headquarters is being designed to serve for the next 100 years.

Reported by Ed Hula.