After a program of design and construction spanning more than four years, the International Convention Centre (ICC) Sydney will be officially opened in December 2016. Located in Darling Harbour, ICC Sydney will be a hub of venues and spaces for conventions, exhibitions, and entertainment that will be linked and adaptable.
The suite of venues will include seven exhibition halls, a raised, open-air event deck, three auditoria – the largest of which will have an 8,000-seat capacity – a Grand Ballroom, and 70 meeting rooms. As the project access consultants, we have worked collaboratively with the ICC Sydney consortium to embed accessibility into as many facets of the project as possible. Seamless, accessible connections have been allowed for integrated design across the venues and across a revamped public realm stretching from Cockle Bay to Haymarket.
ICC Sydney will also feature a standard-setting array of accessible features for patrons and members of the public. These include lowered service counters and hearing augmentation at critical points of sale and enquiry, power-assisted door entry into premier venues, a centrally-located Changing Places facility, and fire refuge spaces as part of the egress strategies.
The degree of accessibility delivered at such an expansive scale can be credited to the commitment of the development consortium, which included LendLease and joint-venture designers Hassell + Populous. Our team is honoured to have contributed counsel and advocacy to a project that has set a formidable benchmark for accessibility.