The ensemble, which is now occupied by the UN General Assembly, delegates from all 192 member countries of the organization, and 4,000 administrative personnel, includes several buildings, the most famous of which is its first headquarters (now the Secretariat), designed by a group of architects from all over peace based on the proposal of Le Corbusier and opened in 1952. Despite the fact that the library, General Assembly meeting rooms and conference rooms are all located in separate buildings, standing next to each other, the 39-story modernist monument is too cramped for officials and diplomats, and its poor technical condition aggravates the situation. Its reconstruction project was developed back in 1996, but it was approved only ten years later, in December 2006.
For the duration of the work (starting in 2008), officials will be housed in rented office buildings in Manhattan and Queens, and the General Assembly will meet in a temporary building designed by Fumiko Maki next to the Secretariat complex.
The main goal of the renovation, which will be completed in spring 2014, is to reduce the amount of energy consumed by the building by 30%. The Secretariat's glass curtain walls now easily allow air to pass through multiple slots, increasing the cost of air conditioning and space heating, and the systems responsible for these aspects of the building are working intermittently. During the construction of the complex, asbestos was widely used, which will now be removed during repair work. They will also update the IT infrastructure, replace ordinary bulbs with energy-saving ones, install sensors that turn off the light in empty rooms, as well as solar panels. The interior will be redesigned to make the most of natural light. The general contractor will be the Swedish construction company Skanska.
As a result of all the measures taken, the UN Secretariat building should receive a silver LEED certificate for a high level of resource conservation, setting an example for all progressive humanity in a conscious attitude to the environment.
