page_title: IBM La Gaude
section_title: 1962 laboratory relocation from Paris to near Nice
hierarchical_section_title: IBM La Gaude / 1962 laboratory relocation from Paris to near Nice
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo by me of IBM La Gaude in the early 1970s. My father Lawrence Ogilvie is in the picture.
context_page_description: French IBM engineers developed the world's first computer-controlled business telephone systems at IBM La Gaude near Nice in France.
context_section_description: IBM moved its French research and product-development laboratory from Paris to a spectacular, purpose-built, 35,000 square-metre building, designed by the architect Marcel Breuer, in 23 hectares of rough countryside near the village of La Gaude overlooking Nice and Nice airport. IBM chose the location because it could attract the cream of French engineers to work on the French Riviera, it was close to France's second-largest airport, and because it complied with the French government's policy to decentralize from Paris and build away from urban centres.
  Initially 700 people, mostly engineers, worked there. By 1987 there were 1,500 engineers in the original B1 building. The B2 building was built in 1969 and B3 (with a patio) in 1978. From 1984 to 1986 reinforcements were made to reduce the risk of earthquake damage. Staff included IBM employees from other European countries and the USA. In 2015 most staff were displaced to a new centre nearer Nice.
caption: IBM La Gaude in the early 1970s, with the Alps in the distance.  06 Alpes Maritimes, France 43°43′56″N 7°10′01″E﻿ / ﻿43.732177°N 7.167064°E﻿ / 43.732177; 7.167064
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