World Class Facility

Background Information

RWL have recently completed supply of Brand-Rex copper and fibre structured cabling system to the National Conference Centre. The Cat6Plus solution was installed by Mercury Technologies.

Occupying a stunning location on the banks of the River Liffey in Dublin, The NCC is a world-class conference centre with state of the art facilities managed by a team of highly experienced professionals.

Architecturally dramatic, this iconic building will accommodate conferences, exhibitions and banqueting for up to 6,000 people. The flexible space includes a technically sophisticated auditorium for up to 2,000, fully serviced exhibition space and an extensive range of smaller conference and meeting rooms.

Contract Award or Financial Close on this unique and prestigious Public Private Partnership (PPP) project was achieved on the 5th April 2007. The Contract was awarded to the Spencer Dock Convention Centre Dublin Ltd (SDCCD) Consortium. Under the terms of the Contract, SDCCD are required to Design, Build, Finance, the National Conference Centre (NCC) and Operate and Maintain it for a period of 25 years, after which time the facility will revert to the State. In return, once construction work on the Conference Centre was complete and the Centre is open for business, the State will pay SDCCD by way of annual Unitary Payments over 25 years, a total of just under €380m in present day values. Construction work on the Conference Centre, which will took 40 months to complete.

Challenges and Considerations

The absence of a National Conference Centre has been recognised for some time as a deficit in Ireland’s business tourism infrastructure. The global conference market is worth up to €40 billion per year and 870 international association conferences take place every year, in Europe alone. Ireland, without a dedicated National Conference Centre has lost out on much of the available premium tourist business. Delegates to these conferences are regarded as “high value” business tourists and are estimated to spend €1,250 each (excluding air travel) during their stay. Conference visitors often extend their stay at the end of the conference or return later for private holidays. The NCC when fully operational, is expected to generate additional foreign revenue earnings of between €25m-€50m per annum.

Key Focus

The Conference Centre is located at Spencer Dock on Dublin’s North Quays, adjacent to the Royal Canal. The Centre includes a 2,000 seat raked auditorium, numerous multi-purpose meeting rooms and approximately 4,500 sq., ms of flexible exhibition and banqueting spaces, along with associated press and delegate support facilities and general utility spaces. The Centre is spread over five levels and has the potential to cater for up to 8,000 delegates in various configurations, making the National Conference Centre one of the most flexible conference centres in Europe.

The Conference Centre is be approximately 27,000 sq., ms in area, will be clad in stone and includes a dramatic glass fronted entrance atrium running the full height of the building giving visitors panoramic views of the River Liffey, Dublin City Centre and the Wicklow Mountains. A new five star hotel, facing on to Mayor St, is proposed for the northern end of the NCC (the hotel is not part of the PPP contract).

Result

The building was designed by Kevin Roche, Pritzker Prize winner and internationally renowned Irish architect who, after graduating from the UCD School of Architecture in 1945, worked with the architect Michael Scott, before moving to America where he is still an active member of the firm, Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates.

The Centre officially opened in September 2010.