ICC Sydney – What Lies Inside

Sydneysiders can now get a glimpse of what lies inside ICC Sydney at Darling Harbour.

Joint venture partners HASSELL + Populous have worked together to design the new convention, exhibition and entertainment venues for Sydney, with inspiration from the site’s spectacular city and harbour surrounds as well as Cockle Bay’s history.

While the design creates a cohesive overall precinct, each of the buildings has its own personality and unique architectural character, from the cool reflective style of International Convention Centre Sydney to the warm natural features of ICC Sydney Exhibition Centre, and the vibrant energy of ICC Sydney Theatre.

All have been designed to capture the spirit of Sydney, and to make the most of the inner city harbour-front location.

For example, many of Convention Centre spaces have been brought to the edges of the building so that people can enjoy stunning harbour and city vistas. The building’s 2,500 seat plenary hall draws on Sydney’s wind-sculpted sandstone headlands for its internal form, with lime-washed timber panels. On the top level, Australia’s largest ballroom offers a stunning 270 degree view of the Sydney skyline across the harbour.

Next door, ICC Sydney Exhibition Centre creates Australia’s first multi-storey exhibition venue and the country’s largest, with the floor-space on the upper and lower halls equal in size to 26 Olympic pools, or more than four football fields. Yet the immense scale of the venue is dramatically reduced by being integrated into its terraced park surrounds which cleverly conceal a substantial proportion of the building. A key design feature is the location of the meeting room pods and breakout spaces at the front of the building, to connect and engage with the views and outside environment.

And finally, there is the ICC Sydney Theatre, able to seat 8,000, with the possibility of an additional 1000 on a standing GA floor, yet designed to ensure an intimate and engaging experience, with an innovative fan-shaped seating bowl that brings the audience close to the stage.

In designing the new ICC Sydney, HASSELL and Populous have created world class venues that connect with their surrounding built and natural environments as part of a new inner city destination that people will love.

ICC Sydney will be open to the public on October 22^nd ahead of officially opening for business in December.