International Convention Centre and Symphony Hall (Birmingham)

 convention center, concert hall

The International Convention Centre is a major conference centre in central Birmingham, forming the centrepiece of the Westside area of the city centre. Built 1987-1991, it is home to the world famous Symphony Hall, renowned for its acoustics. The ICC also hosted the 1998 Summit of G8 World Leaders. Percy Thomas Partnership and Renton Howard Wood Levin were the architects.

Inside the building, numerous connecting bridges and walkways line the atrium overhead connecting the eleven halls. The ICC has a total capacity of 8,000 delegates. The largest hall, "Hall Three" can hold up to 3,000 delegates when fully utilising its 3,000 sq.m. space.

Symphony Hall has a capacity of 2,262. The acoustic capabilities of the hall were designed with the specialist help of Russell Johnson of Artec Consultants Inc. The hall has a U-shaped reverberation chamber which adds 50% to the volume of the hall. In 2001, a 6000-pipe symphony organ was installed, designed and built by Johannes Klais Orgelbau in Bonn and specially tailored to the hall's reverberation chambers. This is now the largest mechanical action organ in the UK. The hall is built only 30 metres (100 ft) from a covered railway line. As a result, the hall is mounted on rubber cushions, as is the railway track. The hall is also shielded from heavy traffic on Broad Street by double skins of concrete. Large, low-speed air ducting cuts the ventilation noise.

The International Convention Centre
Broad Street
Birmingham
B1 2EA