UN Delegates Café and Lounge

Culture of Assembly

The Delegates Café and Lounge is part of the United Nations’ $2.15 billion Capital Master Plan, a six-year renovation project to update the UN Headquarters complex in New York for the 21st century, as well as to provide a more energy-efficient environment for delegates, staff, and visitors.

The UN Headquarters is the epicenter of the global diplomatic community represented by the United Nations. The architecture of the complex has become a primary visual symbol of the efforts of the world organization, largely because of the striking aspects of its high modernist design; but a more nuanced examination reveals that it was created to perform as a spatial setting reflective of the UN’s function as a “workshop for peace.” This is the result of the tireless efforts of the original design committee and their ambition to manifest a physical forum for a “culture of assembly” to give the nations of the world equal voice and the potential for horizontal decision-making and open discussion.

LocationNew York, NY
TypeCivic / Hospitality
AreaUN HEADQUARTERS MASTERPLAN
2,500,000 ft2 / 232,257 m2
Café and Lounge, General Assembly
6,894 ft2 / 640 m2
StatusCompleted
Year2014–2015
ClientThe United Nations
TeamBettina Zerza, Principal
Seth Embry, Nina Kolowratnik, Standish Lee, Carolina Ihle, Johannes Pointl

Architecture: Perkins Will

Construction Manager: Skanska USA 

Project Management: Gardiner & Theobald LLP 

Food Service Consultant: Cini Little International Inc.

Green Building Consultant: Vidaris, Inc.

MEP and IT Engineering: Syska Hennesy Group Inc.

Security Consultant: Kroll and Schiff

Furniture: Moroso, NWW

Lighting: Woka

Layout of Conference Rooms around Café and Lounge

Seating arrangements in Conference Rooms

Seating arrangements: Formal Setting, Flexible Setting and Formalized Flexibility

Circulation Diagram