Brighton Centre is a conference and exhibition centre located in
Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
. It is the largest of its kind in southern England,
and is regularly used for
conferences of the British political parties and other bodies of national importance. The venue has the capacity to accommodate up to 5,000 delegates,
although rooms in the building can be used for weddings and banquets.
It has also been used as a live music venue since it was opened by
James Callaghan
Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005), commonly known as Jim Callaghan, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980. Callaghan is ...
on 19 September 1977. It was designed in a
Brutalist style
Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the ba ...
by architects
Russell Diplock & Associates, who made extensive use of textured concrete. The venue is situated in the centre of Brighton on the sea front and is within 200 metres of major hotels. In 2004, it was estimated that the centre generates £50 million in revenue for Brighton.
Renovation
The second phase of redevelopment was completed in January 2012; a refurbishment of its main entrance resulted in a transformation of its outside facade. In addition to this, the venue's restaurant, which is regularly used as a relaxation space for larger conferences, now features floor-to-ceiling windows with uninterrupted views of the seafront and new interiors.
As part of Brighton's "City Plan", it has been proposed that the building be knocked down to make way to an extension to the
Churchill Square shopping centre.
Notable events
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...
's final performance was at the Brighton Centre on 10 October 1977. He died of a heart attack four days later, while at a golf tournament in Spain.
The Jacksons
The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, also known as the Jacksons) are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most ...
performed on 10 February 1979 as part of their
Destiny World Tour.
Bob Marley and The Wailers performed on 8 and 9 July 1980 as part of their
Uprising Tour
The Uprising Tour was a concert tour organised to support the album ''Uprising'' by Bob Marley and the Wailers. It was Marley's last tour and the biggest music tour of Europe in that year.
The tour started at the Hallenstadion in Zürich, Swi ...
.
Between 1978 and 1995 it was the venue for the
Brighton International
The Brighton International was a tennis tournament held in Brighton, UK. It was a WTA Tour event from 1978–1995 and an ATP Tour event from 1996-2000, upon the discontinuation of the women's tournament. The women's event was held in October.
It ...
tennis tournament, an annual event on the
WTA Tour. Champions of the event included
Chris Evert
Christine Marie Evert (born December 21, 1954), known as Chris Evert Lloyd from 1979 to 1987, is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. Evert won 18 major singles titles, including a record seven French Open titles and a joint-record ...
,
Martina Navratilova and
Steffi Graf
Stefanie Maria Graf ( , ; born 14 June 1969) is a German former professional tennis player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 for a record 377 weeks and won 22 major singles titles, ...
.
On 11 December 1982,
The Jam
The Jam were an English mod revival/ punk rock band formed in 1972 at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, Surrey. They released 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 1 ...
played their last gig in the Conference Room at the Brighton Centre.
From 29 to 30 November 1983, pop duo
Wham!
Wham! (briefly known in the US as Wham! U.K.) were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981. The duo consisted of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They became one of the most commercially successful pop acts of the 1980s, selling mor ...
performed their final dates on their debut UK tour, titled
Club Fantastic Tour
Club Fantastic Tour (also advertised as Club Fantastic ‘83 Tour) was the debut concert tour by English musical duo Wham!, launched in support of their first studio album ''Fantastic'' (1983). It was sponsored by Fila sportswear and spanned two m ...
.
From 9–15 September 1989, the
Liberal Democrats held their first
Liberal Democrat Conference, after the party's formation in the previous year.
[Roger Mortimore and Andrew Blick, ''Butler's British Political Facts'', Palgrave Macmillan 2018, p. 274 & 275.]
In 2003 and 2004, it hosted the
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...
and
2004 British Open snooker, from 8–16 November.
On December 17, 2006, comedy rock duo
Tenacious D
Tenacious D is an American comedy rock duo formed in Los Angeles, California in 1994. It was founded by actors Jack Black and Kyle Gass, who were members of The Actors' Gang theater company at the time. The duo's name is derived from "ten ...
performed as part of their
Pick of Destiny Tour,
Neil Hamburger
Neil Hamburger is a fictional standup comedian and singer created by Australian-American entertainer Gregg Turkington. Distinguished for his misanthropic jokes and anti-comedy style, Turkington has released a number of albums as Hamburger and ...
was opening act
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brighton Centre, The
Buildings and structures in Brighton and Hove
Exhibition and conference centres in England
Indoor arenas in England
Darts venues