| International Congress Centre in Katowice | |
| Owner: | City of Katowice |
| Operator: | PTWP Event Center sp. z o.o. |
| Address: | Plac Sławika i Antalla 1, 40-163 Katowice |
| Location: | Katowice, Poland |
| Coordinates: | 50.2653°N 19.0272°W |
| Architect: | JEMS Architekci |
| Publictransit: | Katowice Spodek Katowice Rondo |
| Mapframe-Zoom: | 15 |
| Capacity: | 12,000–15,000[1] |
| Record Attendance: | 25 000 (2018 United Nations Climate Change Conference)[2] |
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, Poland and since May 2016 is managed by the PTWP Event Center sp. z o.o. on a multi-year lease from the city.[3]
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, the Silesian Museum, and the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra building,[4] the International Congress Centre is built on a post-industrial area of an old Katowice Coal Mine, which was operational until the late 1990s.[5] [6] The venue stands on an old mining waste dump site classified as "2A".
In 2011 the City of Katowice started construction of the venue, with a total cost of 378 mln PLN (with 182 mln PLN coming from the EU budget).[7] The venue was designed by JEMS Architekci and the contract for construction was awarded to the Polimex–Mostostal joint venture. After the contract with Polimex-Mostostal was voided by the city, Warbud and the Mercury Engineering consortium was awarded the construction contract. The design of the centre, with a distinct canyon going through it in order to remove any obstruction from the view of Spodek, has been praised, and the building was nominated for the Mies van der Rohe award in 2017.[8] [9] The venue is connected directly to Spodek by an underground tunnel.[10]
Construction of the venue ended in March 2015, a year later than planned. On 12–15 March, ICC held its first event, the Intel ESL Expo Katowice.
International Congress Centre in Katowice is divided in 4 parts:[11] [12]
The venue has a parking capacity of 1500 cars and buses.
Together with Spodek, ICC can host events for up to 25,000 attendees.
The City of Katowice has established a Culture Zone (pol. Strefa Kultury) around the newly redeveloped part of the city.[13] The total cost of the zone's urban renewal exceeded 1 billion PLN.[14] 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 a competition by the Polish Tourist Organization.[15]
Among the events hosted in the venue were: