Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre
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| Location | South Wharf, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 37°49′32″S 144°57′15″E / 37.8256°S 144.9541°E |
| Owner | Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust |
| Operator | Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust |
| Surface |
MEC: 30,000 m² MCC: 2,021 m² |
| Construction | |
| Opened |
MEC: 14 February 1996 MCC: May 1990 |
| Construction cost |
MEC: A$129 million MCC: A$125 million |
| Architect |
MEC: Denton Corker Marshall MCC: NH Architecture and Woods Bagot Masterplan Lead Designer: Larry Oltmanns |
The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre is the name given to two adjacent buildings next to the Yarra River in South Wharf, an inner-city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The venues are owned and operated by the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust.
The Melbourne Exhibition Centre Trust was created in August 1994 with the responsibility of overseeing the construction and development of the Melbourne Exhibition Centre. In February 1997, the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust began, replacing the previous trust with the added scope of the Melbourne Convention Centre, formerly called the World Congress Centre Melbourne. In August 1997, the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust became owner and venue manager of both the Melbourne Exhibition Centre and the Melbourne Convention Centre.
The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust is also responsible for managing and promoting the use of the Royal Exhibition Building in the Carlton Gardens. As a government-owned trust, The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust is responsible to the Minister for Tourism.
The Melbourne Exhibition Centre was opened on 14 February 1996 and is known colloquially as "Jeff's Shed" after the then Victorian Premier, Jeff Kennett.
It has a pillarless floor space of 30,000 square metres, making it the largest such space in the southern hemisphere, which allows it to host thousands of large exhibitions, some which are held each year.
The building was designed by Denton Corker Marshall, an architectural firm responsible for many of Melbourne's larger buildings through the early 1990s, and features their characteristic "blade" entrance. In 1998 a covered footbridge was erected between the Exhibition and Convention centres, parallel to the Spencer Street Bridge.
The building resembles a long shed with separated operable walls (each valued at $250,000). This allows the space to be split from a maximum of 30,000 square metres of 360 metres long by 84 metres wide into a minimum of 3,000 square metre spaces. The single volume with a proportion of length to width of approximately 2.5:1 was chosen. Other than the exhibition space, the building also has a basement that is able to hold 1,000 cars.
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