Steel-framed conference centre opens in Belfast

Belfast’s conference and exhibition facilities have been significantly increased following the opening of the  £29.5M Waterfront steel-framed extension.

The Lord Mayor of Belfast, Arder Carson, unveiled the new conference facilities and said: “Like the original decision to invest in the Laganside area back in 1997, the new-look Belfast Waterfront in 2016 will elevate our city’s global profile, bringing growth, prosperity and opportunities to Belfast and its people.”

Northern Ireland’s only purpose-built conference centre has now doubled its existing conference, exhibition and entertainment space to 7,000m².

The steel-framed extension links into the original concrete-framed Waterfront but the new build is a fully independent structure gaining stability from its own braced cores.

The extension is constructed over the existing service yard between the Belfast Waterfront and the adjacent Hilton Hotel, and also extends outwards along the River Lagan embankment.

Inside the extension there is 4,000m² of conference, exhibition and banqueting space. This consists of two exhibition and conference spaces, hall 1 incorporating halls A, B, C and D, that can be used as one large 1,850m² area, or sub-divided via retractable walls into four smaller spaces.

Likewise the smaller hall 2 can also be divided into two separate halls, A and B, or used as one 702m² exhibition and conference area.

Working on behalf of main contractor McLaughlin & Harvey, Walter Watson fabricated, supplied and erected 1,200t of structural steelwork for the project.