WCC headquarters to undergo major redevelopment

The World Council of Churches has announced a 10-year redevelopment of its headquarters in Switzerland.

The process will kick off with a technical evaluation of the existing buildings to determine whether they should be expanded, renovated or built again from scratch.

The evaluation phase will be followed by an architectural competition, with the appointment of the winner expected by the middle of 2013.

The site on the outskirts of Geneva covers 34,000 square metres of land and up to 60,000 square metres of floor space.

The redevelopment of the site has been prompted in part by the need to modernise the existing headquarters and reassess the WCC’s assets in light of a pension deficit that was recently resolved through a loan from the Co-op Bank in Switzerland.

The WCC has made it a priority to use environmentally friendly resources and create buildings with a low environmental impact.

The General Secretary of the WCC, the Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, said: “For the WCC, the project will offer new perspectives both for our role in international Geneva and for the furtherance of our programmes and activities.

“As the land owner, it is our obligation to meet a high level of sustainability by using scarce resources wisely and continuing to create value and exercise responsible stewardship for future generations.”

Construction work on the new centre is not expected to begin before 2016.

The WCC has partnered with the Implenia construction group to oversee the project.

Yves Perriraz, head of Implenia’s development unit in western Switzerland, said: "We feel honoured that we have been selected as partner by the WCC and highly appreciates the level of trust that the WCC has placed in us."