The United Nations Headquarters, located in Manhattan was completed in 1952 by a team that included Le Corbusier, Oscar Niemeyer and Wallace K. Harrison, who called the complex "a workshop for peace." The result is a Gesamtkunstwerk born from collaboration and open debate. The interdisciplinary approach to the North Delegates Lounge, as part of major renovations throughout the UN complex, seeks to continue this tradition. The various interventions in the lounge, while the work of specific individuals, are also borne out of debate and collaboration within the team.

The North Delegates Lounge plays a key role in the workings of the UN as an unofficial space where conversation is unrecorded, informal. Friendships are born, or renewed, and animosities are de-escalated.

OMA's contribution includes removing the lounge's mezzanine (an addition made in 1978) in order to open up the view over the East River. Visitors to the Lounge enter at the western end of the room. Here, the newly positioned information desk with original clock and signage, a subtle demarcation colour in the carpet, and an e-paper information wall offer a clear zone of entry before one proceeds into the lounge.

From west to east the furniture layout changes its character from public to private. Large sofas with smaller movable chairs allow various combinations in the formal seating area at the centre of the lounge. At the east end the bar, made of black resin, can be used for coffee and drinks. At the very end the view of the East River, through a new bead curtain, can be appreciated from original Knoll chairs.

In the course of time, the lounge has undergone various modifications. The range of interventions proposed by the Dutch design team might be termed as "a preservation of change", based on a careful editing of the history of the lounge and the addition of new features. The team has also taken into account key characteristics of the lounge that must be maintained and enhanced: functionality, comfort, timelessness, calm, and safeguarding the privacy of the delegates while facilitating new encounters.

The redesigned lounge is an initiative of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and will be completed in 2012.