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As the 79^th Assembly of the United Nations nears its conclusion at UN headquarters in New York, more than 7,000 miles away in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, one of the international diplomatic organization’s three regional outposts is in the beginning stages of a major transformation. Formally established in 1996 as the UN’s official headquarters in Africa and the only such compound in the global south (the other adjunct headquarters are in Geneva and Vienna), the United Nations Offices at Nairobi (UNON) has quietly announced plans to modernize and significantly expand the conference facilities at its sprawling, 140-acre campus in the city’s expatriate district of Gigiri. Aiming to accommodate more than 9,000 in-person conference participants, the design contract for the expansion scheme has been awarded to multidisciplinary South African practice Boogertman + Associates with Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron in the role of co-design consultant.

Home to the UN Environment Programme and the UN Human Settlements Programme along with 58 global, regional, and local UN entities working in, and from, Kenya, the UNON campus is in urgent need of additional space for hosting large-scale gatherings as the current facilities face “deteriorating conditions and limited capacity.”

An early conceptual rendering of the new assembly hall on the UNON campus. Image courtey UNON

As detailed in a press release sharing the basics of the plan, the expansion will yield 24 conference and meeting rooms of various sizes including a 1,600-person general assembly hall, a new visitors center and delegates registration building, a new media center, and dining and multi-purpose exhibition buildings. The campus’s existing 2,000-person conference facility, which dates back to the mid-1980s and is plagued by obsolete IT and audio-visual systems, will also be extensively renovated. Per the UN, the new facility will “serve as an exemplar of environmental sustainability and building performance, including a target of net zero energy consumption, and will aim to afford universal accessibility for meeting participants and conference services staff.”

There will be an emphasis on the use of local materials and construction methods, along with the harnessing of passive ventilation and daylight.

An existing building at the UNON camplex in Gigiri. The campus is located opposite the U.S. Embassy in Kenya. Photo by melena1977, Shutterstock

While finalized project renderings have yet to be released, the estimated $265.7 million project’s design phase kicked off in 2023; construction is slated to begin in 2025. If the timeline holds, the revamped and expanded UNON campus in Gigiri will be completed by 2030. 

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