Secondary Buildings
There are three secondary buildings across the river from the Louise Weiss. Like the Louise Weiss, they follow the numbering system of Immeuble du Parlement Européen (French for "Building of the European Parliament) 1, 2 and 3. 1 and 2 form a single complex and 3 is located further inland towards the Council buildings. On the site on which they were built, there previously stood the swimming pool of the Société des nageurs strasbourgeois (SNS), built in 1952 and demolished in 1978 to make way.
The Winston Churchill building (IPE 1) is located on Avenue du Président Schuman, in the Orangerie district. It houses administration and support facilities. The Salvador de Madariaga building (IPE 2), along Quai du Bassin de l'Ill, is located next to the Winston Churchill building. Both buildings, designed by the municipal architect François Sauer with the assistance of Jean-Paul Friedmann on behalf of the SERS actually form one single complex with a surface of 58,400m², built at a cost of 81 million euros, inaugurated in 1980 (later modified in 1988 and 1991, in relation to the construction of the IPE 3) and designed in a post-modern style often characterised by convoluted, serpentine architecture, relative heights and glazed facades., The Salvador de Madariaga building also houses the other EU body of which Strasbourg is the official seat (since 1992): the European Ombudsman.
The buildings were at the centre of controversy regarding overpayment of rent. They were eventually bought by the Parliament in 2006.
In October 2007 it was discovered that the buildings contained a larger amount of asbestos than previously thought before they were purchased. However the amount is still not deemed to be a public health risk and is limited to certain areas. The previous owner of the building may be responsible for finding and removing the asbestos within the building. This was not the first such incident as bacteria causing Legionnaires has been discovered in the water system of the complex after a number of officials reported in ill. The bacteria had been allowed to develop due to the Strasbourg complex being used only four months of the year.
The Pierre Pflimlin building (IPE 3), a heart-shaped, comparatively low building built on behalf of the SERS at the crossing of Avenue du Président Robert Schuman and Allée Spach, inaugurated in 1991 as a press and media center (Centre de presse et d'information) at a cost of 38 million euros, has been given the name of the former President of European Parliament on 6 July 2007. The smallest of the buildings (21,000 m²), it is also the only one not to be next to the river or the canal. It now houses among other things the translation staff.
Read more about this topic: Seat Of The European Parliament In Strasbourg
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