The Danish headquarters of the United Nations is located on an artificial island in the northern port of Copenhagen. The island itself has the shape of a trapezoid in plan with one strongly pointed end, on which the architects placed the new complex with a total area of 20,000 m2.
Fitting the building into an area of such an unusual shape, 3XN interpreted it as an 8-pointed star or snowflake, the rays of which stretch out as they approach the water. Such a structure not only makes the building more visible in the Copenhagen skyline, but also allows for the most convenient placement of all UN departments: in fact, each of them received its own wing.
In response to its immediate surroundings, the building is clad in dark steel panels at basement level, while the beams themselves are finished in white perforated aluminum. As conceived by the authors, this is perfectly combined with the dark piers located in the neighborhood, and snow-white liners moored there. The aluminum panels were developed by 3XN in collaboration with Pihl specifically for this project: protecting the headquarters premises from direct sunlight, they do not obstruct the view and penetration of daylight into the interior, which makes the workplaces of UN staff as bright as possible. And so that they themselves could regulate the intensity of direct sunlight, the facade is made up of 3 m long modules: workers control their position from their computers.
The compositional center of the internal layout of the building is a multi-colored multi-level atrium, into which all eight rays-buildings converge. As with many of its other projects, 3XN designed a spectacular staircase for this space, more like a sculpture. Made of natural wood and finished in black polished steel, the staircase is a spiral, passed through separate flight-bridges, directly connecting the various buildings. And if the shape of the building itself, as conceived by the authors, symbolizes the presence of a peacekeeping organization in all corners of the planet, then the main staircase of the new headquarters clearly reflects the UN's readiness for dialogue and interaction.
The building uses numerous innovative technologies that reduce its energy consumption and make it as "green" as possible. In addition to the already mentioned facade system, a special membrane made of plant materials, which protects its roof, allows minimizing overheating of the building in summer and protecting it from hypothermia in winter. In addition, the building uses solar panels and a rainwater harvesting system, and the complex uses seawater to cool the air. Together, this allowed the new UN headquarters to receive the LEED Platinum certification and become the winner of the European Commission's Green Building Award 2012.
A. M.
