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The International Convention Centre (ICC) is a major conference venue in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, England. The centre incorporates Symphony Hall and faces
Centenary Square Centenary Square is a public square on the north side of Broad Street in Birmingham, England, named in 1989 to commemorate the centenary of Birmingham achieving city status. The area was an industrial area of small workshops and canal wharves ...
, with another entrance leading to the
canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface fl ...
s of Birmingham. The Westside area, which includes
Brindleyplace Brindleyplace is a large mixed-use canalside development, in the Westside district of Birmingham, England. It was named after Brindley Place, the name of the street (in turn named after the 18th century canal engineer James Brindley) around wh ...
, is opposite the building on the other side of the canal. The centre is owned and operated by the NEC Group, who is also responsible for the nearby Arena Birmingham, just to the west of the complex.


History and construction

The building was designed by
Percy Thomas Partnership Percy Thomas Partnership was the trading name of the award-winning British architectural practice established some time between 1965 and 1973 as the successor to a series of earlier partnerships originally set up by Percy Thomas (1883–1969) in Ca ...
and Renton Howard Wood Levin. The foundation stone was laid by
Jacques Delors Jacques Lucien Jean Delors (born 20 July 1925) is a French politician who served as the 8th President of the European Commission from 1985 to 1995. He served as Minister of Finance of France from 1981 to 1984. He was a Member of the European Par ...
as a start of another 4 years and 5 months of construction. In all, over 1,500 workers helped construct the building. Over 60,000 cubic metres of concrete were used. The site was opened on 12 June 1991 by
Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
. Funds of £49.7 million were provided by the European Council. The total cost of construction was £200 million. It is on the site of the Prince of Wales Theatre and
Bingley Hall Bingley Hall in Birmingham was the first purpose-built exhibition hall in Great Britain. It was built in 1850 and burned down in 1984. The International Convention Centre now stands on the site. Precursor The precursor of Bingley Hall was an " ...
, the world's first purpose-built exhibition hall, opened in 1850. Also on the site were numerous houses fronting King Edward's Place as well as a brewery and inn. On the eastern side of this was King Alfreds Place which was also fronted by houses and a hotel. A listed Victorian
cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...
urinal was removed before construction began, on condition that it be re-erected. Although it was taken to Tyseley Locomotive Works, it has never been restored. The ICC hosted the
24th G8 summit The 24th G8 Summit was held in Birmingham, England, United Kingdom on 15–17 May 1998. The venue for this summit meeting was the International Convention Centre, Birmingham.Japan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan), Ministry of Foreign Affairs ...
in May 1998. On a specified date in August, the building is used by companies, organisations and/ or individuals as part of "''Discovery Day''" which features events co-ordinated all over the city. In 2004, an area was used as an indoor country fair. The fair featured a
Ferris wheel A Ferris wheel (also called a Giant Wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondolas, capsule ...
and small rides. In spring 2008, the hall hosted its first-party political conference, for the Labour Party. The venue has since hosted party conferences for all three main political parties over successive years.


Architecture

The façade of the building is covered in blue-tinted windows and white stone cladding. The entrance is adorned by a
neon Neon is a chemical element with the symbol Ne and atomic number 10. It is a noble gas. Neon is a colorless, odorless, inert monatomic gas under standard conditions, with about two-thirds the density of air. It was discovered (along with krypton ...
sculpture, by Ron Hasledon, named "Birdlife" which hangs above it. The entrance is used as a small performance area and small protests are sometimes held there. The south side of the building features a link bridge to the Hyatt Regency Hotel. When the pre-fabricated connecting bridge was delivered, it was found to be too short, as the plans for the hotel had been modified, moving it away from the ICC slightly, but the bridge makers had not been informed. Inside the building, numerous connecting bridges and walkways line the atrium overhead connecting the ten halls and ten additional meeting rooms. The ICC has a total capacity of 8,000 delegates. The largest hall, Hall 3, can hold up to 3,000 delegates when fully using its 3,050m2 space. Within the mall, there are a number of concessions, including a branch of Castle Fine Art which sells original paintings and prints, a WHSmith store, coffee shops including a
Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 cou ...
store as well as the box office for tickets for both Symphony Hall and other local theatres. Hotdesking space is also available with computers providing internet access.


References


External links


1890 map of location of ICC
(Bingley Hall is on the far right of image) {{Authority control Buildings and structures in Birmingham, West Midlands Exhibition and conference centres in England Buildings and structures completed in 1991 Centenary Square, Birmingham Percy Thomas buildings