The aging United Nations headquarters building overlooking New York’s East River is set to undergo a $1 billion makeover.
UNITED NATIONS
The aging United Nations headquarters overlooking New York’s East River is set to undergo a $1 billion makeover, the first-ever overhaul of the landmark but leaking complex.
Alicia Barcena, U.N. undersecretary general for management, said the seven-year project will be conducted in three phases, with about 1,000 workers temporarily relocated to buildings in Manhattan and Queens during each phase. Work will begin in early 2008.
For two years, between 2009 and 2011, the General Assembly will be housed a block away from headquarters on East 46th Street. The U.N. Secretary-General will remain at headquarters but in temporary quarters. About 4,000 people work at the U.N. headquarters, which includes three buildings.
“The signing of this agreement is a major step in making the U.N. headquarters a safer, healthier and more energy-efficient place for all of us who work here,” Barcena said at a news conference. “It will make it safer for hundreds of thousands of tourists who visit every year.”
A Swedish-owned construction firm, Skanska AB, won a competitive bid to conduct the preconstruction phase of the project, Barcena said.
“We are currently negotiating with Skanska, and if we agree on pricing, they will probably become the construction management company on the project,” said Werner Schmidt, a U.N. spokesman.
Barcena was accompanied at the news conference by Michael Alderstein, who will oversee the entire renovation. Alderstein, an architect, managed the renovation of the Taj Mahal, Ellis Island and the New York Botanical Garden.
“It’s the United Nations,” Alderstein said when asked why he would want to head such a daunting project. “It’s the most difficult project, in my view, in the world,” Alderstein said.
Built in 1950, the landmark U.N. Secretariat building and its neighbouring Conference and General Assembly buildings, built in 1951 and 1952, are packed with toxic asbestos, have leaking roofs, an erratic heating and cooling systems and lack fire sprinklers. The sprawling 39-storey glass-and-steel complex has not seen a major overhaul since it was built.
The renovation involves a complete overhaul, covering six buildings with total floor space of 240,000 square meters on seven hectares. One goal of the renovation is to make the buildings more energy efficient. The Secretariat building alone, where U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s office is located, wastes as much as 25 per cent of the heat pumped into it during the winter.
Skanska Chief Executive Stuart Graham said his company was “extremely honoured to partner with the United Nations to help them create a modern and environmentally sound headquarters for its membership and staff.”
Skanska, which has made a strong push into the U.S. construction market in the past few years, building the open-air stadium for the New York Jets and New York Giants in New Jersey, said the project is its largest ever in the U.S. and one of its top three worldwide.
Associated Press
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