Lima Convention Centre by IDOM

The project and construction of the Lima Convention Centre (LCC) were contextualized by the agreement between the Peruvian State, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund to hold in Lima the 2015 Board of Governors. Strategically located in the Cultural Centre of the Nation, the new center was designed by the international company IDOM to satisfy four main objectives: being a cultural and economic motor for the country, representing a meeting place at the heart of the city enrooted in the collective Peruvian culture, turning into a unique, flexible, and technologically advanced architectonic landmark, and finally, triggering the urban transformation of the Cultural Centre of the Nation and its surroundings.

The urban proposal situates the access to the building on the north end, therefore encouraging the future development of the Culture Boulevard. The general volume is organized into three time-physical strata, clearly differentiated and symbolized the present, the past, and the future of the country.

The near 15,000 sqm of net area correspond to the 18 multipurpose convention halls from 3,500 sqm to 100 sqm, allowing for up to 10,000 people to attend simultaneous events. The rest of the program is completed by four underground car park floors as well as several uses above ground that complement the conference rooms. This all generates a total build up area of 86,000 sqm.

Technically, the mandatory condition by which the great 5,400 sqm room, with capacity for 3,500 people, was to be free from pillars – along with the seismic inconvenience of using propped up structures – turns the conceptual and structural proposal into a challenge, since it implies putting the great room on the last level. Placing a huge sheltered volume at a height of over 30 m is a challenge to both the structural approach, and the building’s internal mobility – access and evacuation.