Construction of New WIPO Building to Start In Early April

Two contracts relating to the construction of a new administrative building to extend the premises of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) headquarters in Geneva, were signed on Friday, February 8, 2008, with the Swiss firm Implenia Entreprise Générale SA, as general contractor, and a syndicate of two banks: Banque Cantonale de Genève and Banque Cantonale Vaudoise, for part of the project’s financing. The construction of the new administrative building, comprising 560 work places, will start along the Route de Ferney in early April 2008.

 

The general contractor and the banks were selected by a board composed of representatives of WIPO member states.

 

Burckhardt+Partner SA, a Swiss firm specialized in the management of large construction projects, was previously selected as pilot of the project through a similar tendering exercise.

 

Construction work is expected to start in early April 2008 and to last approximately 30 months. Once completed, the Organization will be able to regroup all staff in a single building complex, just off the Place des Nations.