The House of Basketball is situated in the village of Mies, a 10-minute drive from Geneva international airport.

The 30 million Swiss francs (£20 million/$31 million) building, designed by Lausanne-based Luscher Architects SA, is situated on an 8,500 square metre plot of land on the shores of Lake Geneva with a view of the Alps.

Its construction, under the supervision of the International Basketball Foundation (IBF) chaired by former FIBA President Bob Elphinston. was completed in a little over two years.

The state-of-the-art facility comes with a complete floor for FIBA's administrative staff, a conference centre and an exhibition area that includes a Hall of Fame, as well as a library with more than 6,000 basketball books.

It also features an underground parking and extensive storage.

The building is shaped like a hand, one of the key elements of FIBA's visual identity and one of the main body parts used to play basketball.

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

"This marks a great day as we can finally say that we have a home open to all our members," said FIBA President Yvan Mainini.

"With this, we have achieved one of our four pillars."

FIBA's three other pillars are to grow its 3x3 discipline on the world stage, including getting it onto the Olympic programme for Rio 2016, to change its competition system as of 2017 and to adapt its governance to deal with the future challenges and its ambitious objectives, added Mainini.

"We are delighted to have our own headquarters that reflect our sport and its values," said Patrick Baumann, FIBA's secretary general and a member of the International Olympic Committee. 

"The House of Basketball is not only a home for FIBA and its members, but for all lovers of basketball."


The move ends FIBA's nomadic existence.

Having been originally founded in Geneva in 1932, FIBA had its headquarters in Rome from 1932 until 1940 before moving to Bern, from 1940, following the outbreak of World War War.

It remained in Geneva until 1956 when, under its then secretary general Borislav Stankovic, FIBA had its offices in Munich for more than 30 years.

FIBA first decided to build its own headquarters in 1968, but it was not until 30 years later, in 1998, that the FIBA World Congress looked at the idea more closely.

In May 2000, eight cities presented their projects to the ruling Central Board and FIBA chose to move back to Geneva, doing so in May 2002.

Six years later, Mies was selected as the site for the House of Basketball where FIBA purchased a plot of land to build its own home.

The official inauguration of the House of Basketball is due to take place on June 18 - the day of FIBA's anniversary - with the induction of the 2013 class of Hall of Fame members to follow the next day.

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