UNOG Buildings Unit

Window replacement project
at the United Nations Office at Geneva 

Geneva based UN staff having their offices in the historical building parts of the Palais des Nations went through an enormous construction site in 2013/2014: more than 1000 windows – 1049 to be precise - were replaced in the Palais des Nations within 8 month time only. The works were carried out during ongoing office operations – just next door in some cases.

The first windows were replaced in S (K) building end of February 2013. In order to execute the window replacements, offices had to be completely emptied and staff members had to move to a temporary office space. More than 1500 persons were moved for the window replacement project.  

The construction site was divided in 10 stages (“étapes”) and several sub-stages. Due to the efficient planning of the consulting architectural firm group8 – and the strict adherence to this planning – the windows could be replaced in a minimum of time: approx. 6-7 working days for each window. Seven firms were simultaneously working in one “étape”, swapping places in precisely defined time slots.

In June 2014, the window replacement project was finished and also stores have been put in place. 

The new windows are controlled by the GTC (Gestion Technique Centralisée) – the central control system. At night, all stores will automatically go up and during the hot summer weeks, the upper windows will stay opened during the night to take advantage of cool night air (natural night cooling effect). Thus, the offices are to be fresh in the morning. (During the heating period, the upper windows will be automatically closed.)

The new windows provide a high thermal and also acoustic insulation. Staff members who had their new windows in winter 2013 confirmed that heating can easily be turned down. The new windows will therefore help to remarkably reduce the energy consumption of the Palais des Nations and UNOG’s ecological footprint won’t be as “deep” as before.