Putrajaya International Convention Centre
Coordinates: 02°53.7′N 101°40.6′E / 2.8950°N 101.6767°E
| Putrajaya International Convention Center | |
|---|---|
| Pusat Konvensyen Antarabangsa Putrajaya | |
 The Putrajaya International Convention Center | |
| General information | |
| Status | Complete |
| Type | International Convention Center |
| Architectural style | Malay Contemporary architecture |
| Town or city |
Putrajaya Federal Territory |
| Country | Malaysia |
| Groundbreaking | 2001 |
| Construction started | 2001 |
| Completed | 2003 |
| Inaugurated | 2004 |
The Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC; Malay: Pusat Konvensyen Antarabangsa Putrajaya) is the main convention centre in Putrajaya, Malaysia. This building is located on the top of Taman Puncak Selatan in Precinct 5.
History
It was constructed from 2001 to September 2003. Its first conference was the 10th Organisation of Islamic Conference in October same year. Since October 2004, the Putrajaya Convention Centre is officially known as Putrajaya International Convention Centre or PICC to give the impression it is at par with other international conference centres such as in London, Tokyo and Paris. It is a precinct landmark that was designed by Malaysia’s fourth Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Bin Mohamad.
Fronting the main uniqueness of the building, it is engrafted with a thorough combination of ‘Wau’, an ancient kite popularly known in the state of Terengganu and Kelantan and the ‘Pending Perak, a silver royal like belt buckle, of which the main hall is flanked in the bejeweled eye of such engraftment.
PICC confines an area of 135,000 square meters, or approximately 1.3 million square feet.
Besides hosting the 10th Conference of Organization of Islamic Countries, PICC also became a conference venue for high security risk events, hosted by the government or private sector. PICC has had many important guests including foreign head of states and heads of government, important corporate personalities such as the world's richest man, Bill Gates and also the current CEO of Microsoft Steve Ballmer. Due to its strategic location on the top of the hill in Putrajaya and facing beautiful lakes, it has also become one of most popular places and "hot" sites for film shootings especially for commercial advertisements.
PICC can accommodate 10,000 people with more than 57 halls and small rooms ready to be used. PICC has been awarded Best Energy Efficiency Building, First Runner-up in the year 2007 by ASEAN.
Architecture
The design idea of this unique and impressive building is based on the shape of the eye of 'pending perak' (a silver Malay royal belt buckle). However, the structure of the roof was designed similar to a folded origami to alleviate the plain roundness of the structure. From the frontview, the building's eaves or wings are lifted at the sides, creating broad overhangings over the raking wall. Most of the walls are made of glass, so natural sunlight can easily illuminate the auditorium through the raked and shaded windows.
To complement the architecture of this convention centre is the long span geometrically complex roof structure over the plenary hall and the column-free banquet hall. The latter space can accommodate 3000 delegates, each with an uninterrupted view of the stage with the conference and main auditorium floors above supported on a sculptural system of radial arms.
Surrounding these main spaces the ancillary accommodation follows a conical geometry with the rings increasing in diameter up the building to provide the larger area needed for the plenary hall itself.
The main road leads to the convention centre over Seri Gemilang Bridge.
Interior
Putrajaya International Convention Centre, designed to incorporate and reflect 135,000 square metres contiguous of space and occupied a site of nearly 1.3 square feet (0.12 m2), making it Malaysia’s largest convention centre, is having differing types of events, functions, or corporate meetings.
The Plenary Hall, for major conferences, allows a capacity of up to 3,000 people with a podium stage. The Heads of State Hall has a circular seating arrangement for 180 people. Perdana Hall has an extensive kitchen serving 3,000 diners seated at any one time and, 2 unity halls that can each be divided for seminars, exhibitions or banquets for 2000 people. All the halls are equipped with interpreter rooms with 13 different languages. On top of that PICC also has 14 suites for bilateral meetings on various levels, VIP Lounges, 10 halls for conference discussions where each hall can accommodate 200 participants, 33 meeting rooms for 10 to 100 persons, 3 public galleries, 2 restaurants, 3 prayer rooms and over 4 kiosks and a business centre for the delegates' convenience.
PICC has 2 major entrances, at the Ground and Mezzanine levels, a 2-level car park in the basement for 1,200, with lift access to all floors.
Major events in PICC
- Organisation of the Islamic Conference General Conference 2003
- Malaysian International Fireworks Competition (MIFC) 2007, 2008
PICC receives a yearly average of more than 230,000 delegates and 15,000 visitors around the world since 2006.
Notes
External links
Media related to Putrajaya International Convention Centre at Wikimedia Commons
- Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) website
- Pullman Putrajaya Lakeside Hotel website - 5* Hotel Located opposite PICC
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