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The House of Basketball

FIBA’s headquarters ‘The Patrick Baumann House of Basketball’ is home to FIBA’s administrative staff, as well as a FIBA Conference Centre, the FIBA Hall of Fame, the Exhibition Hall and the Pedro Ferrandiz Library.

It is located in the Swiss village of Mies, a mere 10-minute drive from Geneva International Airport.

From above, the building is shaped like a hand, one of the key elements of FIBA's visual identity and can be seen from the sky when flying into Geneva Airport.

It also incorporates a steel structure reminiscent of the woven basketball net.

The ‘The Patrick Baumann House of Basketball’ sits on an 8,500 square metre plot of land on the overlooking Lake Geneva and the Alps. It is managed by the FIBA Foundation.

Quotes about the House of Basketball

We are delighted to have our own headquarters that reflect our sport and its values. The House of Basketball is not only a home for FIBA and its members, but for all lovers of basketball" - Patrick Baumann, Former FIBA Secretary General & IOC Member
When I think about our headquarters back in New York, we need to capture the essence of the game the same way that you have here at the House of Basketball. - Adam Silver, NBA Commissioner
The new headquarters represent the spirit of FIBA: solid, universal and dynamic. - Jacques Rogge, International Olympic Committee President (2001-2013)
KEY FACTS

  • In 1968, FIBA put forward for the first time the idea of building its own headquarters. Forty five years later this idea is finally a reality. -  Borislav Stankovic, FIBA Secretary General Emeritus

    Facts

    • 8,500 square metre plot of land
    • 6,250 usable surface area inside the building
    • 4 floors
    • 120 work stations (30 currently occupied by a tenant)
    • 50 underground car park spaces
    • Easy access by public transport
    • 170 tons of steel for the 40 metre-long bridge structure over the Naismith Arena.
    • 3,000 square metres of glass windows
    • Highest standards of sustainability by Swiss label MINERGIE-ECO® for an energy-efficient building.
    • Choice of sustainable construction materials respecting the environment.
    • 300 square metres of solar panels covering the building’s roof.
    • 3x3 basketball court as a “red carpet” to the building’s entrance.
    • 1,000 square metre Naismith Arena, a ground floor exhibition space including the FIBA Hall of Fame.
    • Over 40,000 objects representing basketball’s history and culture inherited by the Pedro Ferrandiz Foundation in Madrid collected over 20 years.
    • Pedro Ferrandiz Library with more than 7,000 basketball books in over 20 languages.
    • Restaurant with an 80-seat capacity
    • Conference Centre with eight fully-equipped state-of-the-art conference rooms.
    • CHF 25 million – cost of construction of the House of Basketball.
    • CHF 10 million – cost of fitting out the House of Basketball.

     

  • The entusiasm and pride of the workers who built FIBA's new headquarters lives in the House of Basketball, a building which itself 'speaks' basketball. - Richard Baillif, Project Director House of Basketball

    Timeline

    • January to September 2009 – Design Competition
    • December 2009 – FIBA Central Board ratification
    • January to March 2010 – Project finalization
    • April 2010 – Building Permit application
    • September 2010 – Calls for tender for construction companies
    • December 2010 – Beginning of the construction work
    • 28 February 2013 – Delivery of the building
    • 4 April 2013 – Move of FIBA staff and tenant into building
    • 18 June 2013 – Inauguration of the new building

  • With the inauguration of the House of Basketball, the goal is reached and the final basket has been scored, as the member federations will finally have a metamorphosis of their emblem built near the beatiful Lake Geneva. - Rodolphe Luscher, Architect of the House of Basketball

    Key persons involved in the project

    • Project lead and administration of building: International Basketball Federation (IBF)
    • Architects: Luscher Architects SA, Lausanne
    • Landscaping: Luscher Architectes SA, Lausanne
    • Civil engineers: Ingeni SA, Geneva
    • Engineers: Amstein+Walthert, Ingénieurs-Conseil SA, Lausanne
    • Economist: M.Walter Gubser, Bussigny-sur-Lausanne
    • Acoustics: EcoAcoustique SA, Lausanne
    • Facades: Emmer Pfenniger & Partner AG, Münchenstein

  • FIBA’s long search for a home

    FIBA found a home. After it was founded in Geneva in 1932 and over the course of the last 80 years, FIBA moved its headoffices to a number of places.

    The 1998 FIBA World Congress took up the idea, first put forward in 1968, to look into acquiring a property for its own headquarters.


    Extract of FIBA's official decision for a building project, FIBA world Congress in Mexico (1968).

    On 4-5 May 2000, Geneva was chosen by the FIBA Central Board among eight cities as the future home of FIBA. In May 2002, FIBA moved from Munich into rented offices in Geneva. The search for a site to build its own world headquarters began.

    In May 2004, the nearby town of Nyon offered to supply FIBA with land, yielded as a surface right, on the shores of the Lake Geneva. Although the FIBA Central Board decided unanimously to accept this offer, the agreement reached with the Nyon council was rejected by the town’s population following a popular referendum.

    In the summer of 2006, another nearby site was put forward to FIBA, this time by the Commune of Coppet. Once again the project would face unsurmountable political and administrative hurdles.

    Finally, in May 2008 the Mies site was suggested to FIBA. The parcel of land was acquired and a design competition was launched.

    Design Competition

    Phase I

    In the summer of 2008, 10 pre-selected architectural firms were invited to set up special working groups and apply for the right to submit a project.

    On the basis of these applications, eight working groups were retained for an extensive audition.

    Following these auditions, four were selected for the second phase.

    Phase II

    Precise regulations and a list of requirements were established and handed down to the remaining candidates on 17 December 2008.

    The four projects were submitted prior to the 25 March 2009 deadline.

    A panel of judges was set up. It was composed of the Board of the International Basketball Foundation, experts from within FIBA and technical experts (architects, engineers, economists, legal consultants, etc…).

    The panel met on 6, 7 and 8 April 2009 for a first evaluation of the submitted projects. The jury retained two projects for a second round.

    Phase III

    A revised version of the regulations and list of requirements was handed to the two finalists on 13th May 2009, so that more detailed versions of the projects could be submitted by 31 August 2009.

    The jury met again on 8 and 9 September 2009 to evaluate the revised projects and decide on the winning project.

    The jury unanimously recommended the “Basket Hall” project, submitted by
    the Luscher Architects SA, later to be named “House of Basketball”.

    This recommendation was unanimously approved by the IBF Council on 8th September 2009 and ratified by the FIBA Central Board on 11 December 2009 during its meeting in Istanbul, Turkey.

    Construction

    A building application was filed in April 2010 and the construction permit delivered to FIBA during the summer. In December 2010, the first stone was laid.

    The building completed in early 2013 and the keys to the building were handed over to FIBA on 28 February 2013.

    On 18 June 2013, on FIBA’s 81st birthday, the ‘House of Basketball’ was officially inaugurated. More than 400 guests - including representatives of FIBA’s member national federations, partners and members of the 2013 Class of the FIBA Hall of Fame - gathered to celebrate this major milestone.