International Congress Centre in Katowice
ICC in 2015
AddressPlac Sławika i Antalla 1, 40-005 Katowice
LocationKatowice, Poland
Coordinates50°15′55″N 19°01′38″E / 50.26528°N 19.02722°E / 50.26528; 19.02722
Public transitTram interchange Katowice Spodek
Tram interchange Katowice Rondo
OwnerCity of Katowice
OperatorPTWP Event Center sp. z o.o.[1]
Capacity12,000–15,000[2]
Record attendance25 000 (2018 United Nations Climate Change Conference)[3]
Construction
Opened2015 (2015)
ArchitectJEMS Architekci
Website
www.mckkatowice.pl/en/

International Congress Centre in Katowice (ICC) (pol. Międzynarodowe Centrum Kongresowe w Katowicach, MCK) is a multipurpose conference and convention centre. It was opened to the public in 2015. It is owned by City of Katowice and since May 2016 is managed by the PTWP Event Center sp. z o.o. on a multi-year lease from the city.[4]

History, design and construction

MCK and Spodek at night, 2020

Katowice, for most of it modern history, has been a coal mining town and the heart of Poland's industrial region – Silesia. Together with nearby Spodek, Silesian Museum and Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra,[5] the International Congress Centre is built on a post-industrial area of an old "Katowice" Coal Mine, which was operational until the late 1990s.[6][7] The venue stands on an old mining waste dump site classified "2A".

In 2011 the City of Katowice started a construction of the venue with a total cost of 378 mln PLN (182 mln PLN from EU budget).[8] The venue was designed by JEMS Architekci and the contract for construction awarded to Polimex–Mostostal joint venture. After the contract with Polimex-Mostostal was voided by the city, Warbud and Mercury Engineering consortium was awarded the construction.[8] The design of the centre, with a distinct canyon going through it in order to remove any obstruction from view of Spodek, has been hailed and the building was nominated to Mies van der Rohe award in 2017.[9][10] The venue is connected directly to Spodek by an underground tunnel.[11]

Construction of the venue ended in March 2015, a year overtime. On 12–15 March, ICC held its first event – Intel ESL Expo Katowice.[7]

Capacity

International Congress Centre in Katowice is divided in 4 parts:[7][9][12][13]

  1. Multi-function room with an area of 8174 m2 (up to 10 000 people), with a possibility to divide the room into three parts with area ranging from 2583 m2 to 2839 m2;
  2. Auditorium (up to 600 people) – Separated from the rest, with its own foyer, checkrooms and restrooms. It provides full separation of participants from other events going on at the same time at the ICC;
  3. Ball rooms (up to 1000 people) – In a separate part of the building, with a separate foyer and toilets. It is possible to divide it into three independent modules A, B and C;
  4. Conference Centre – smaller and medium-sized conference rooms on the uppermost level (26 meeting rooms ranging from 38 to 144 m2, with the possibility of combining and separating meeting rooms).

The venue has a parking capacity of 1500 cars and buses.[12]

Together with Spodek, ICC can host events for up to 25 000 attendees.[4]

Culture Zone of Katowice

The City of Katowice has established a Culture Zone (pol. Strefa Kultury) around the newly redeveloped part of the city.[14] A total cost of the zone's urban renewal exceeded 1 billion of PLN.[15] The zone has received various awards, including MP Power Multi Venue 2018, REAL ESTATE IMPACTOR 2018, Meeting Planner Power Awards 2016 and the Best Tourist Product of the Year 2015 in the competition of the Polish Tourist Organization.[6][9][16]

Hosted events

Among the events hosted in the venue were:

It was announced that Wikimania 2024 will take place at the ICC in August 2024.[19]

References

  1. PTWP Event Center, nowy zarządca Spodka i MCK, wybrał firmę do pilnowania i sprzątania obu hal, Nasze Miasto (Katowice), 2016-05-04
  2. All conference rooms and Auditoriums
  3. (together with Spodek and additional outside structures)
  4. 1 2 "Polskie Towarzystwo Wspierania Przedsiębiorczości – Obiekty". www.ptwp.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2023-12-05.
  5. "International Congress Centre (MCK) in Katowice | Piotr Krajewski – Architectural Photography". Archello. Retrieved 2023-12-05.
  6. 1 2 "Strefa Kultury". www.katowice.eu. Retrieved 2023-12-05.
  7. 1 2 3 "Podstawowe informacje o projekcie – Międzynarodowe Centrum Kongresowe w Katowicach". web.archive.org. 2016-02-10. Retrieved 2023-12-05.
  8. 1 2 "Większe unijne dofinansowanie centrum kongresowego w Katowicach". wnp.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2023-12-05.
  9. 1 2 3 "Design i nagrody". www.mckkatowice.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2023-12-11.
  10. "EUMiesAward". www.miesarch.com. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
  11. "The MCK International Congress Centre – IGF2021 – Gov.pl website". IGF2021. Retrieved 2023-12-05.
  12. 1 2 "Międzynarodowe Centrum Kongresowe w Katowicach , Katowice". konferencje.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2023-12-05.
  13. "International Congress Centre". www.katowice.eu. Retrieved 2023-12-05.
  14. "Culture Zone". www.mckkatowice.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2023-12-05.
  15. "Strefa Kultury". www.mckkatowice.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2023-12-05.
  16. "Międzynarodowe Centrum Kongresowe KATOWICE – Śląskie. Inf..." www.slaskie.travel (in Polish). Retrieved 2023-12-05.
  17. "COP24 Katowice United Nations Climate Change Conference". Archived from the original on 2019-12-03. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  18. together with Spodek
  19. Team, Wikimania Core Organizing; Nadzik; Locesilion, Tar; Pedzich, Wojciech (2023-12-11). "Announcing the Wikimania 2024 dates and venue". Diff. Retrieved 2023-12-12.
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