The National Olympic Committee House

Architects of Invention worked on all elements of the interior, from the intriguing reception desk a standard rectangular table that is fissured with an arresting crevice that cuts deeply through the centre to the athletic track markings on the floor that guide visitors around the interactive displays for young visitors to the museum. Perhaps the most striking element of the scheme is the staircase that winds through the building’s four storeys, linking exhibitions spaces and offices. The architects had to reinforce the basement level to allow large openings in the walls of the upper storeys so that the staircase could penetrate the structure. The staircase is a steel frame with MDF panels and the frame, steps and handrails are finished with maple veneer. The seemingly endless twists and turns of the staircase refer to the limitless possibilities of human achievement.

Architect Nikoloz Japaridze explains “This work represents the idea of dynamics in sport with the abstract compositions of the staircase and the reception table. The first object you encounter is the introverted desk with its never-ending fissure, and then you meet the extroverted staircase like the open path to Olympus, where the summit meets its own reflection, inferring that striving never ends, that there is no limit to human achievement”.