The Palais de la Concorde in 2372
The Palais de la Concorde is a large, cylindrical, fifteen-story building in Paris, France on Earth, that serves as the seat of government for the United Federation of Planets. The Palais is located on the site of the former Place de Concorde and is elevated above the Champs Elysees, which it straddles, supported by four duranium beams at each corner that lead to the basement levels.
The first floor of the Palais features the chambers of the Federation Council, wherein the legislature meets for both full and sub-council sessions. The council chambers are rectangular; towards the south wall is the podium, typically used by the Federation President, or by another Councillor, when presiding over a Council session. The podium is emblazoned with the Great Seal of the United Federation of Planets, and the Federation flag hangs on a pole behind it. On the south wall is a view screen used for a variety of purposes, most commonly for tabulating votes during a session. The east and west walls feature matching rows of twenty seats each, with four rows on each side. (When the number of Councillors exceeds the number of seats, two new rows of twenty seats each are installed on either side.) The center of the room is the area in which those acknowledged by the podium are allowed to address the Council or sub-council -- the speaker's floor. The northern side of the chambers features the gallery, an area of seating where spectators may observe full sessions of the Council; the galley is closed during classified sessions.
The second floor features the offices of the Palais press liason and staff, and includes the holographic briefing room in which the liason remotely addresses press from throughout the Federation. Floor Two also features a secondary transporter bay.
The third floor features the offices of the Palais legal counsel.
The fourth through twelth floors feature the offices of the Federation Councillors and their staffs. Floors Thirteen through Fifteen feature the President's staff, with Thirteen featuring the offices of the speechwriting department. The Chief of Staff for the President's office is on Fourteen, as are the offices of the Cabinet members. Deputy Chiefs of Staff and their staffs are housed in the interior of Fourteen, while the Chief and Cabinet have offices along the exterior walls.
Fifteen features the office of the president, as well as the Ra-ghoratreii Room and Wescott Room, a small transporter room, and a waiting room for the president's secretary. (Under the Amitra and Jaresh-Inyo Administrations, the Ra-ghoratreii room was used as the Presidential office before Min Zife moved back into the primary office room on Fifteen.) The President's office is heavily shielded, as are the Council Chambers, to prevent breaches in security such as abductions.
The Palais also features three basement levels, all heavily shielded. The basement levels, especially the Monet Room, are where the president, the presidential staff, and the members of the Security Council and other authorized councillors meet to discuss issues of Federation defense and security and to organize Starfleet operations.
- We saw the President's office on Fifteen in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and we saw the Ra-ghoratreii Room (serving as Jaresh-Inyo's office) in "Homefront" and "Paradise Lost" in season four of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. We saw the Federation Council Chambers in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, although it is possible that those were alternate chambers used in San Francisco when the Palais is unusable for some reason, as the film strongly implied that the Council had been meeting in San Francisco.
- Sources: Star Trek: Articles of the Federation and Star Trek: A Time for War, A Time for Peace by Keith R.A. DeCandido; Star Trek: A Time to Kill and Star Trek: A Time to Heal by David Mack.