The Maison du Sport International is part of Lausanne’s line up of international sporting institutions. It hosts some thirty federations and companies from the sporting field.
Financed by the International Olympic Committee, the canton of Vaud and the city of Lausanne, the infrastructure is sited close to the lake in the district where the IOC and the headquarters of major companies are located.
Built in 2003-2006, the complex was designed by the Bernese architecture studio Matti Ragaz Hitz, winner of the planning competition in 2001. It consists of an entrance pavilion designed for representative functions and three bars placed perpendicularly to the entrance.
The entrance pavilion is designed around a compact rectangular volume on a small scale. It is remarkable for its use of concrete decoration with a refined geometrical design. A sunshade covers the south and north facades of the two upper floors. An underground passage leads to the buildings at the rear. The latter display an elegant, rational but unostentatious architectural style, with glass and metal cladding. Despite being treated in different ways, the elements of the building are united by effects of permeability and transparency which sustain the exchange.
