The ICE Kraków’s design was selected in an international architecture competition. The functional layout and composition of the Congress Centre uses the natural scenic values of the site. Thanks to its undulating roof inclined towards the Vistula River, the form of the building was often compared to a melting ice block. The façade is finished with a mosaic from ceramic tiles in white and red, like the Polish flag, and in various shades of grey. The structure is closed by a glass façade with titanium and zinc elements. Thanks to the effect achieved by the designers (the architecture studio Ingarden & Ewý Architekci, in cooperation with Arata Isozaki & Associates), the Centre smoothly blends with the panorama of the Vistula boulevards and of the city of Krakow as a whole. Our venue has a conference space of more than 36 000 m² – the largest Auditorium Hall can accommodate around 2000 people. The Centre’s guests are also offered the Theatre Hall (600 places), the Chamber Hall (300 places or 2x150 places) as well as a complex of conference rooms of a total floor area of 500 m², which can be separated into smaller spaces via a system of acoustic rooms. In addition, the ICE Kraków has 32 multifunctional meeting rooms and a three-tier foyer overlooking Wawel Castle and offering a panoramic view of Krakow. A two-level underground car park can accommodate 335 cars. The Wawel Royal Castle on the other side of the Vistula River from the ICE Kraków Congress Centre
ICE Kraków Congress Centre is the city’s new business flagship project, attracting, first of all, the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) industry. In view of its potential use as a venue for almost every type of event at the ICE Kraków, the Centre enjoys huge interest. The rooms are planned in such a way that the events can be separated from each other. Thanks to this planning concept, as many as three simultaneous events may be hosted at the Centre, without the need for the guests to interact. This allows for a multiplication of the number of meetings to be held at the ICE Kraków Congress Centre throughout a year. The Municipality of Krakow is the ICE Kraków investor. The project was implemented under the Malopolska Regional Operational Programme 2007-2013. The total project cost amounted to PLN 357 539 043.63 (co-financing amount: PLN 82 930 000.00). The work began in June 2007 and was completed in October 2014 (as scheduled).
