Setia SPICE Convention Centre

Setia SPICE Convention Centre stands at 108C Jalan Tun Dr Awang in Bayan Lepas, on Penang Island within George Town's southern suburbs, about six kilometres and ten minutes' drive from Penang International Airport. It occupies the 25.4-acre site of the former Penang International Sports Arena (PISA), built in 1997, and was developed under a 30-year concession granted to S P Setia by Penang Island City Council. The centre matters because Penang lacked an international-grade convention venue despite being a manufacturing and medical-tourism hub; the state government promoted the redevelopment to diversify the island's economy beyond electronics and leisure travel. It opened in 2017 and is described as the world's first hybrid solar-powered convention centre and Malaysia's first subterranean one. The complex provides 78,959 square metres of enclosed event space. Its centrepiece is a 4,500-square-metre pillar-less grand ballroom with clear heights of up to 8.5 metres, divisible by retractable partitions into four halls of about 1,000 square metres each, seating 8,000 theatre-style or 400 banquet tables. Eight meeting rooms, pre-function areas and outdoor lawns — the Oval Lawn, Event Lawn and Event Park — extend the offer, while the adjoining SPICE Arena seats 8,000 and an aquatic centre and hotel complete the precinct. The defining architectural move is that the convention centre is buried beneath a grass roof, preserving the greenery the tender required and insulating the halls thermally; a hybrid solar array supplies part of its power and the building is Green Building Index certified. Access is by Rapid Penang buses 302, 303, 304, 308 and 401E, by taxi or ride-hailing, and by car via Jalan Tun Dr Awang and the Bayan Lepas expressway.