UK - Coventry’s Ricoh Arena will begin work on a £2.5 million (US $4m) extension in the new year to create an additional 2,500sqm of space.
The new development will add three new halls, as well as a 650-seat auditorium, to the existing 6,000sqm Jaguar exhibition hall.
A new entrance stairway will be built on the south side of the arena, which Ricoh says will allow it to attract audiences of 10,000 to events at the Jaguar exhibition hall, an increase of 2,000. The walls of the new halls, three, four and five, will be retractable to give event organisers greater flexibility.
The chief executive of the Ricoh Arena, Daniel Gidney, said the extension means that each event will be self-contained. “The economic downturn has meant many of our competitors are cutting back but we are confident our £2.5m investment will lead to further business as well as put us in pole position when the recovery starts,” he said.
“In 2009 we hosted our largest one-day conference when 2,700 delegates attended Ricoh, which proves we are establishing ourselves with blue-chip clients.”
Birmingham-based contractors Ibex Interiors will start work on the project in January, and the project is scheduled to be finished before June.
