Olympia London, sometimes referred to as the Olympia Exhibition Centre, is an exhibition centre, event space and conference centre in West Kensington, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England. A range of international trade and consumer exhibitions, conferences and sporting events are staged at the venue. There is an adjacent railway station at

Kensington (Olympia) Kensington (Olympia) is a combined rail and tube station in Kensington, on the edge of Central London. Services are provided by London Overground, who manage the station, along with Southern and London Underground. It is in Travelcard Zone 2. O ...

which is both a London Overground station, and a London Underground station. The direct District Line spur to the station only runs on weekends.

Background

The complex first opened in 1886. The Grand Hall and Pillar Hall were completed in 1885. The National Hall annexe was completed in 1923, and in 1930 the Empire Hall was added. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the West London exhibition hall was in single ownership with the larger nearby Earls Court Exhibition Centre. The latter was built in the 1930s as a rival to Olympia. In 2008, ownership of the two venues passed from P&O to

Capco Capco is a business and technology management consultancy owned by Wipro, operating primarily in the financial services and energy sectors. Capco's operational headquarters are in London, England, with 32 offices across the Americas, Europe, and ...

Plc which sold it off as a going concern, while Earls Court was being demolished in 2014 as part of an ambitious regeneration scheme to create more luxury housing. In 2012, Olympia celebrated 125 years of events by commissioning British artists Peter Blake, Rob Ryan, Sanna Annukka and Paul Hicks to create their interpretations of the venues. In January 2013, a £40 million investment was completed and the company re-launched with a new brand; subsequently the business was awarded the Best Marketing Campaign at the Exhibition News Awards 2014. * BBC Good Food Show * Olympia London International Horse Show * London Chess Classic *

Pure London Pure London is the United Kingdom's leading fashion trade show which takes place twice a year in Olympia, London. The timings of Pure ties in with the seasonal trends and buying patterns. Pure is predominantly focused on ready-to-wear womenswea ...

* Spirit of Christmas * International Art & Antiques Fair * Marketing Week Live * Great British Beer Festival * Salon du Chocolat *

UCAS The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS ) is a UK-based organisation whose main role is to operate the application process for British universities. It operates as an independent charity, funded by fees charged to applicants an ...

Design Your Future * National Wedding Show * Toy Fair In May 2021, demolition work started at the site as part of a significant overhaul of the complex, which includes new construction and refurbishment of listed historic aspects.

History

Olympia was originally conceived in the early 1880s as the National Agricultural Hall, a larger version of the Royal Agricultural Hall (1861–62, Grade II) in Islington. The project of building a National Agricultural Hall was conceived by Edwyn Sherard Burnaby (1830-1883), MP for Leicestershire North, who primarily wanted to see shows such as the military Royal Tournament, held at the Royal Agricultural Hall in Islington since 1880, staged on a much larger scale and made more easily accessible by railway from across London and the rest of the country. The site chosen was a former market garden in West Kensington, immediately adjacent to Addison Road station, already a major passenger station on the West London Railway, which became an important method of transport for visitors to Olympia. The building was branded as Olympia even before it opened as its commercial rationale quickly evolved beyond the staging of agricultural or military shows into an open-ended exploitation of what was the largest such venue in England at the time. Intended as a large indoor space for exhibitions, tournaments, sporting competitions and entertainments of various kinds, the building followed in the tradition of large-scale exhibition halls popularised by the

Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition which took pl ...

in 1851, the inspiration for various imitators in London, elsewhere in the United Kingdom, and around the world.

Buildings

The Olympia Exhibition Centre consists of: *The Grand Hall, the former National Agricultural Hall. *The Pillar Hall, the former Minor Hall, both of 1885 in Italianate style by Henry Edward Coe with James Edmeston and engineers Arthur T Walmisley and Max Am Ende. The ironwork of the roof is by Handyside of Derby. *Olympia National (the former National Hall), an annexe of 1923 by architects Holman and Goodrham. *Olympia Central (built as the Empire Hall) of 1929, by architect Joseph Emberton. Olympia Central, with its large Olympia signage integral to the building's exterior, is very well known as it fronts onto a public road, Hammersmith Road. The others buildings are primarily accessed via a small access road which also serves Olympia Tube Station. In 2003, The Grand Hall and the Pillar Hall of 1885, designed by Coe and Edmeston, were given historic status, listed at Grade II* for their historic interest and their architectural value. Olympia Central, a large concrete building in the Moderne architectural style was not fully listed due to the number of changes made through the 20th Century, however its distinctive façade was listed. In May 2021, demolition started on the non-listed parts of Olympia London as part of a comprehensive mix-used redevelopment of the complex by its current owners, while still retaining significant exhibition space. In May 2021, the Olympia Theatre was announced with 1,575 seats, making it the largest new theatre in London since the completion of the National Theatre in 1976. This is in addition to previously announced and consented hotels, rehearsal spaces, cinemas, 4,000 seat music venue, retail, dining and public spaces. The major 21st Century redevelopment of Olympia is within the same site boundaries as the historic event spaces.

Notable events

* The International Motor Exhibition was held annually at Olympia from 1905 to 1936 * The

1st World Scout Jamboree The 1st World Scout Jamboree was held from 30 July 1920 to 8 August 1920 and was hosted by the United Kingdom at Kensington Olympia in London. 8,000 Scouts from 34 nations attended the event, which was hosted in a glass-roofed building covering ...

was held at Olympia from 30 July to 8 August 1920 * Jimi Hendrix Experience on 22 December 1967 * Status Quo played on 31 December 1975 * Procol Harum played on 1 January 1976 * Bad Company played on 2 and 3 January 1977 *

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

performed on 14 and 15 January 1977 *

Eubank Eubank is a surname of Old English origin in use since the 13th century, derived from the phrase yew-bank, referring to those who lived near a ridge of yew. Historical spellings include Ewbanke, Ewbanck, Ewbancke, Ewbanche, Ubank, Yuebanc, and Ewba ...

v Stretch at the

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...

Middleweight title battle, 18 April 1991 *

The Cure The Cure are an English rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith has remained the only constant member. The band's ...

performed on the 26th,27th,28th,30 November 1992 *

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

Awards held at Olympia London on 6 December 1992 *

v Holmes at

super middleweight class, 20 February 1993 * Fairuz played on 11 and 12 March 1994 *

v Jose Carlos Amaral at the

Super-middleweight Championship, 9 July 1994 * Spencer Oliver v Serge Poilblanc at

fight, 12 July 1997 *

ATP ATP may refer to: Companies and organizations * Association of Tennis Professionals, men's professional tennis governing body * American Technical Publishers, employee-owned publishing company * ', a Danish pension * Armenia Tree Project, non ...

tennis held from 3–6 December 1998 * 3rd Mind Sports Olympiad held 21–30 August 1999 * Miss World 49th Pageant held on 4 December 1999 * Naseem Hamed v Vuyani Bungu at

featherweight title battle, 11 March 2000 * MOVE IT annual dance event, first held 2005 * Chemical Brothers played on 30 August 2008 *

Vivienne Westwood Dame Vivienne Isabel Westwood (née Swire; born 8 April 1941) is an English fashion designer and businesswoman, largely responsible for bringing modern punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream. Westwood came to public notice when she ...

hosted a catwalk show for London Fashion Week in Olympia London, 21 February 2009 *

Bloc Party Bloc Party are an English rock band, composed of Kele Okereke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards, sampler), Russell Lissack (lead guitar, keyboards), Justin Harris (bass guitar, keyboards, saxophones, backing vocals) and Louise Bartle (d ...

played at Olympia London on 11 and 12 May 2009 * Gavin Rees v Colin Lynes at Prizefighter light-Welterweight battle, 2 December 2009 * Primal Scream performed on 26 and 27 November 2010 * Got to Dance aired from Olympia London on 29 January 2011 * Darren Barker v

Domenico Spada Domenico Spada (born 15 September 1980 in Rome) is an Italian professional boxer who has fought at middleweight. Spada fought Sebastian Zbik for the interim WBC middleweight title twice, losing both bouts by unanimous decision. He also lost t ...

in the

European Middleweight title, 30 April 2011 * Doctor Who Experience was held from 1 January to 22 February 2012 * '' Got to Dance'' final aired live in March 2012 and 2013 *Hatsune

Miku Expo Miku Expo is a series of world tours organized by Crypton Future Media starring the virtual singing software character Hatsune Miku. The performances include notable user-created Vocaloid songs and digital choreography of Miku dancing, projected ont ...

2018 Europe, the first Hatsune Miku concert in the UK, 8 December 2018 * Olympia Beauty is an annual beauty event which first was held at Olympia in 2004 * RuPaul's DragCon UK, an expo of drag culture was held in January 2020. It was called a "disaster" and a "shambles" by fans after hundreds of ticket holders were left to queue outside for hours. *

Foals A foal is an equine up to one year old; this term is used mainly for horses, but can be used for donkeys. More specific terms are colt for a male foal and filly for a female foal, and are used until the horse is three or four. When the foal i ...

played on 29, April 30 April, 1 May and 2 May 2022 as part of their Life Is Yours Tour

Religious gatherings

Olympia Hall was the venue for the Aga Khan's UK Padhramni from 1–7 September 1979. Olympia Hall was transformed to a solemn place of prayer clad in red and green textile and the Imamat crest adorned with fresh flowers. Olympia Hall was the venue for the Aga Khan's silver jubilee visit to UK on 5 July 1983. The darbar was attended by members of the Imamat family.

Political gatherings

* A mass meeting of Sir

Oswald Mosley Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980) was a British politician during the 1920s and 1930s who rose to fame when, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, he turned to fascism. He was a member ...

British Union of Fascists The British Union of Fascists (BUF) was a British fascist political party formed in 1932 by Oswald Mosley. Mosley changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists in 1936 and, in 1937, to the British Union. In 1939, ...

was held at Olympia on 7 June 1934 which resulted in clashes with their

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

and

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

opponents and much press comment. * A European Parliament election rally of Nigel Farage's

Brexit Party Reform UK is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. It was founded with support from Nigel Farage in November 2018 as the Brexit Party, advocating hard Euroscepticism and a no-deal Brexit, and was briefly a significant po ...

was held at Olympia on 21 May 2019 despite the owner's objection to their policies.

References

External links

Official website
{{end Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Exhibition and conference centres in London Art Deco architecture in London West Kensington