Olympia London

Olympia London, sometimes referred to as the Olympia Exhibition Centre,[1] is an exhibition centre, event space and conference centre in West Kensington, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, London, England. A range of international trade and consumer exhibitions, conferences and sporting events are staged at the venue.

Olympia London
Exterior of Olympia Grand as seen from Kensington (Olympia) station
Former namesNational Agricultural Hall
LocationWest Kensington
London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, W14
United Kingdom
Coordinates51°29′47″N 0°12′35″W
Public transit Kensington (Olympia)
OwnerConsortium including Yoo Capital, Deutsche Finance Group, Bayerische Versorgunskammer and Versicherungskammer Bayern Group
Capacity4,000–10,000
Construction
Opened26 December 1886 (1886-12-26)
Renovated2013
Expanded1987; 2011
ArchitectHenry Edward Coe
Website
olympia.london
The interior of Olympia, hosting a trade fair
Imre Kiralfy's Venice the bride of the sea, performance poster

There is an adjacent railway station at Kensington (Olympia) which is both a London Overground station, and a London Underground station. The direct District Line spur to the station only runs on weekends.

Background

The hall opened in 1886.

After World War II the West London exhibition hall was in single ownership with the larger nearby Earls Court Exhibition Centre. [2] The latter was built in the 1930s as rival to Olympia.

In 2008 ownership of the two venues passed from P&O to Capco Plc which sold it off as a going concern, while Earls Court was being demolished in 2014 as part of an ambitious regeneration scheme to create more luxury housing. In 2012, Olympia celebrated 125 years of events by commissioning British artists Peter Blake, Rob Ryan, Sanna Annukka and Paul Hicks to create their interpretations of the venues.

In January 2013, a £40 million investment was completed and the company re-launched with a new brand; subsequently the business was awarded the Best Marketing Campaign at the Exhibition News Awards 2014.

Notable events

Political gatherings

References

Preceded by
Port Glaud
Miss World Venue
1999
Succeeded by
Millennium Dome
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.