BEXCO

BEXCO, the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center, stands at 55 APEC-ro in Haeundae-gu, Busan, at the centre of Centum City - a planned waterfront district of shopping malls, hotels, offices and cultural institutions on the city's eastern seafront. The operating corporation was founded on 5 December 1995, the building was completed on 23 May 2001 and it opened on 13 September 2001 as Korea's second purpose-built convention centre. It hosted the 2005 APEC summit, whose leaders met at the adjacent Nurimaru APEC House, and has since carried the 2012 Lions Clubs International Convention, the 2014 ITU Plenipotentiary Conference and the 10th Assembly of the World Council of Churches, cementing Busan's position as Korea's second MICE city. The complex has two exhibition buildings. Exhibition Center 1 contains Halls 1, 2A, 2B, 3A and 3B: Hall 1 is 8,836 sqm on an 81 by 108 m grid with a 12.5 to 22.5 m ceiling, and the other four are 4,418 sqm each, giving 26,508 sqm in total. Exhibition Center 2 adds Halls 4 and 5, each of 9,936 sqm split into six lettered sub-halls at 12 m and 10 m clear heights. Total exhibition space is therefore 46,380 sqm, supported by 53 meeting rooms, a 4,002-seat auditorium and a gross floor area of 215,173 sqm. Vehicle doors open directly onto the exhibition floor, and a connecting bridge links the two centres so that a single show can use both without shuttle buses. The architecture is functional waterfront modernism: long exhibition sheds with glazed foyers, and a separate auditorium block of five storeys above ground. Access is by Busan Metro Line 2 to Centum City Station, Exit 1, from where the halls are a 2 to 6 minute walk; BEXCO Station (Busan Museum of Art) on the same line serves the second centre. Busan Station is about 42 minutes by express bus 1001.