Project Overview

Spread over 250,000 square metres in the heart of Sydney, ICC Sydney at Darling Harbour is a new global benchmark in exhibition and convention venues and an important city-shaping project set to transform Sydney.

The design creates a cohesive whole, there was a conscious decision to design three distinctive buildings, each with their own character and identity, informed by their use and their context in the landscape: the boldness and robustness of the ICC eatre, close to Chinatown and the city’s nightlife; the warm, earthy tones of the ICC Exhibition set in the parklands; and the re ective, crystalline ICC Convention on the harbour’s edge. In return each building connects with its immediate context physically and visually, taking in the di ering views, to ensure that it is not only an internal experience but one that embraces the uniqueness of its Sydney environment.

Project Commissioner

Lendlease

 

Project Creator

HASSELL + Populous

Team

HASSELL + Populous are joint venture design consultants to the Darling Harbour Live consortium, comprising Lendlease, HOSTPLUS, First State Super, Capella Capital, AEG Ogden and Spotless which is partnering with the NSW Government to create Australia's premier convention, exhibition and events destination, ICC Sydney. Lendlease Building / iNSW

Project Brief

ICC Sydney includes three world-class venues which create a cohesive overall precinct, while at the same time giving each building its own personality and unique architectural character - from the cool re ective style of the convention centre, to the warm natural features of the exhibition centre, and the vibrant energy of the theatre.

The design creates stunning new venues that will attract the lucrative convention and exhibition dollar to Sydney, while at the same time renewing the harbour front precinct to create a vibrant new inner city quarter for visitors and locals alike.

The precinct re ects the dynamism of Sydney’s cityscape, rede ning Darling Harbour, while respecting the precinct’s parkland setting. One of the most important features of ICC Sydney is that it provides more public open space than was there before, a better space with greater amenity for everyone. It is about being open welcoming and enjoying what makes this a truly global and unique city.

The ICC Sydney precinct includes:
• A convention facility capable of holding three separate
concurrent events of up to 2,500 delegates
• Total exhibition capacity of 35,000 square metres
• A flexible entertainment theatre with a seated capacity
of 8,000
• An external event deck of 5,000 square metres
featuring spectacular city views
• A grand ballroom with banqueting space for up to
2,000 or 3,500 in cocktail mode
• 8,000 square metres of total meeting room space across 70 rooms.

Project Innovation/Need

HASSELL and Populous jointly designed the three world- class venues to create a cohesive overall precinct, while at the same time giving each building its own personality and unique architectural character - from the cool re ective style of the convention centre, to the warm natural features of the exhibition centre, and the vibrant energy of the theatre. e HASSELL + Populous design creates stunning new venues that will attract the lucrative convention and exhibition dollar to Sydney, while at the same time renewing the harbour front precinct to create a vibrant new inner city quarter for visitors and locals alike.

Design Challenge

Sydney was very much the project's driver: the natural beauty, the built beauty, but also the people and culture of Sydney. Convention and exhibition buildings have a tendency to be introverted by their very nature, but it the whole project team worked to ensure that the line between the outside and the inside was blurred – so visitors coming to any of the venues could engage with the natural and built beauty of this city.

The NSW Government’s goal was to have the best convention and exhibition centre in the world and they’ve certainly got it.