Adlerstein, appointed in mid-2007 by the then-new U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, revamped the existing strategy to finish the work in five years, not seven as originally planned. "Any project that goes through too many years risks economic changes [that are] out of the project's control," says Adlerstein.

A big change called for vacating the Secretariat, rather than renovating it in 10-floor increments. The plan also included fast-tracking other subprojects, among them the temporary building.

The assembly approved the new plan in December 2007. Work on the temporary building started in May 2008.

The scheme's individual elements involve "pretty traditional construction," says Kolakowski. But the sum is not as simple as the parts, especially because of the active campus, security issues, the ambitious scope and, especially, the U.N. itself, which is known for its bureaucracy.

Intimate Involvement

The CMP is intimately involved. All work is reviewed and approved by the CMP.

For example, after the U.N. and Skanska arrived at a GMP and schedule, the CMP gave Skanska authorization to proceed with final subcontractor bid reviews. But the CMP, its local program manager Gardiner & Theobald and the architect-engineers participated.

Among other things, the assembly receives an annual report. Like an audit, the report includes progress updates and recommendations for change.

There are meetings galore with CMP, designers and Skanska. "We figured, in order to survive this project, we better work together," says SH's Fitzpatrick.

"Failure wasn't an option," he adds. "There aren't too many places in the city to put the General Assembly if you lose power or cooling."