Convention Centre is a

subterranean Subterranean(s) or The Subterranean(s) may refer to: * Subterranea (geography), underground structures, both natural and man-made Literature * ''Subterranean'' (novel), a 1998 novel by James Rollins * ''Subterranean Magazine'', an American fa ...

convention centre A convention center (American and British English spelling differences, American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a Convention (meeting), convention, where individuals and groups ...

in George Town within the Malaysian state of

Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...

. Situated within the suburb of

Bayan Lepas Bayan Lepas is a suburb of George Town in the Malaysian state of Penang. Located near the southeastern tip of Penang Island, south of the city centre, it is home to the Penang International Airport, the third busiest airport in Malaysia, as we ...

, it was completed in 2017 and forms part of the

Setia SPICE Setia is a Multi-purpose stadium, multipurpose sports complex in George Town, Penang, George Town within the States and federal territories of Malaysia, Malaysian state of Penang. It occupies an area of within the suburb of Bayan Lepas, comprisi ...

complex. The convention centre contains an event space of , the largest in Penang.

History

In 1997, the Penang International Sports Arena ( PISA) was built by the Penang Island Municipal Council (now Penang Island City Council) at a cost of RM102.5 million. At the time, the PISA complex comprised an indoor arena (now renamed

SPICE Arena Arena is a multipurpose indoor arena in George Town within the Malaysian state of Penang. Situated within the suburb of Bayan Lepas, it contains of event space and is touted as the largest arena in northern Malaysia. Originally named the Pen ...

) and a centre for

aquatic sports The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

. Although PISA was subsequently selected as a venue for the 2000

Sukma Games The Sukma Games (, lit.: Malaysian Games) is a biennial national multi-sport event involving young athletes from Malaysia's 13 states and 3 Federal Territories. The games are regulated by the National Sports Council of Malaysia, the state spo ...

and the 2001 SEA Games, the complex was plagued by poor design and maintenance. By 2011, the municipal government estimated a budget of RM25 million to extensively repair PISA. After the 2008 state election, the new

Pakatan Rakyat Pakatan Rakyat (PR; ) was an informal Malaysian political coalition and successor to Barisan Alternatif (BA). The political coalition was formed by the People's Justice Party (PKR), Democratic Action Party (DAP), and Pan-Malaysian Islamic Par ...

-led

state government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonom ...

saw the construction of an international-grade

as a necessity to diversify the state's economy. However, as the municipal government lacked the financial means to undertake its construction, the state government under

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

Lim Guan Eng Lim Guan Eng (; born 8 December 1960) is a Malaysian politician and accountant who served as the Minister of Finance of Malaysia from 2018 to 2020. A member of the Democratic Action Party (DAP), he has served as the party's second advisor si ...

initiated a request for proposal to redevelop PISA. In 2011, Malaysian property developer

S P Setia S P Setia Berhad (formerly Syarikat Pembinaan Setia Berhad) ( MYX: 8664) is a Malaysian publicly traded company whose primary business is in property development. It is the largest such company, by sales, in Malaysia. Its other businesses inc ...

was granted a 30-year concession from the municipal government to redevelop PISA, which was subsequently renamed

. A key requirement of the tender was to preserve the existing greenery on the site. S P Setia's proposal included a new

topped with a layer of grass, as well as a playground and a spice garden. Construction of the SPICE Convention Centre commenced in 2012 and was complete by 2017.

Description

Arup Group Arup Group Limited, trading as Arup, is a British multinational professional services firm headquartered in London that provides design, engineering, architecture, planning, and advisory services across every aspect of the built environment. ...

, SPICE Convention Centre contains a meeting space of , distributed across 16 rooms located on two floors one at ground level and another below ground. Additionally, it has a pillarless ballroom, recognised as the largest in Malaysia by The Malaysia Book of Records, with a seating capacity of 8,000 in theatre configuration. The convention centre features a public park situated on its roof, also touted as the largest in the country. The park includes a playground, a bamboo park and a spice garden, and is equipped with a

rainwater harvesting Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is the collection and storage of rain, rather than allowing it to run off. Rainwater is collected from a roof-like surface and redirected to a Rainwater tank, tank, cistern, deep pit (well, shaft, or borehole), Aquifer s ...

system. In addition, it is illuminated by 654 solar-powered

light-emitting diodes A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (corresp ...

(LEDs) and incorporates daylighting features to help reduce the structure's internal temperature. The design of the centre necessitated the installation of span

trusses A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembla ...

with fabricated joints to accommodate the added weight of the garden.

References

{{Convention centres in Malaysia 2017 establishments in Malaysia Commercial buildings completed in 2017 Convention centres in Malaysia Buildings and structures in George Town, Penang