Harbour Light Inspires Centre’s New Look

The Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre has unveiled a sophisticated new interior design in its Parkside Convention Centre, bringing a new vibrancy to Australia’s premier events venue.

Flooded with natural light, the redesign gives Parkside a fresh and elegant look that echoes the colours and qualities of the adjacent Bayside Convention Centre while taking full advantage of the venue’s harbour views.

The changes also bring the Centre’s acclaimed art collection to greater prominence, including a dramatic harbour scene by Australian artist Brett Whiteley which now forms the centrepiece to Parkside’s open spaces.

Centre Chief Executive Ton van Amerongen said the new look was a natural elevation for the Sydney venue.

“The Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre has always been more than just a static venue: it links its events with the life and energy of Sydney itself,” Mr van Amerongen said. “These changes further enhance that quality, drawing on the vivid light, the water views and the surrounding life of Darling Harbour.”

Created by architects Cox Richardson, the new look features white travertine floors, deep blue carpets and colour-backed glass wall panels. It enhances the Parkside Foyer with its vast wall of glass overlooking Cockle Bay, as well as the Parkside Ballroom, the largest pillarless ballroom in Sydney.

The redesign puts a new focus on Parkside’s broad concourse, now a home for Whiteley’s 6.1m by 2.4m Sydney Harbour to the Spirit of Bill W, one of more than 20 major works by prominent Australian artists in the Centre’s collection.

Other additions include integrated projection screens and digital display systems, providing greater opportunities for event organisers’ branding and signage.

The enhancements form part of a wider plan that will later introduce fully-operable walls within the Parkside Centre to create more flexible conference rooms and increased exhibition space.

To be completed later this year, the additional changes will allow conferences to be held within a single area or level, creating a more intimate feel and better flow between plenary sessions, breakout sessions and exhibitions.