The Odyssey Complex, formerly Odyssey Centre, is a sports and entertainment complex located within the
Titanic Quarter in
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...
,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
.
The complex originated in 1992 and came into fruition in June 1998. It opened in December 2000, with expansions opening in March and May 2001. The complex consists of: a multipurpose arena, science centre and shopping centre. The shopping centre houses a movie theatre and bowling alley, alongside a selection of restaurants.
History
The Odyssey Centre was 50% funded by a £45m grant from the
Millennium Commission
The Millennium Commission, a United Kingdom public body, was set up to celebrate the turn of the millennium. It used funding raised through the UK National Lottery to assist communities in marking the close of the second millennium and celebra ...
as part of the Landmark Project for Northern Ireland with matched funding from the
Department of Education Northern Ireland, the Sheridan Group and the
Sports Council for Northern Ireland. The application to the Millennium Commission was led by the
Ulster Museum
The Ulster Museum, located in the Botanic Gardens in Belfast, has around 8,000 square metres (90,000 sq. ft.) of public display space, featuring material from the collections of fine art and applied art, archaeology, ethnography, treasure ...
, who wished to develop a science centre and teamed up with Peter Curistan who wished to develop an
IMAX, and then led the development of the Arena with L&R leisure who were the consultants. The name "Odyssey", was to symbolise the 'journey of discovery' that would be the science centre and Michael Montgomery, a young 14-year-old at the time came up with the name. The complex adopted the name, and the Science Centre became W5.
The arena opened in 2000, W5 on 31 March 2001 with the Pavilion opening a few months later. The Odyssey is quoted to have cost £120 million on completion. Odyssey was held in Trust by the Odyssey Trust Company with leases to SMG/Sheridan for the Arena, Sheridan for the Pavilion and the National Museums NI for W5. In 2011 Odyssey Trust took over the Arena. In 2011 The Odyssey Pavilion which was owned by The Sheridan Group went into administration, and the building went under control of KPMG temporarily until the energy company
SSE purchased it. It is managed by The Odyssey Trust.
Facilities
SSE Arena, Belfast
![Mass vaccination centre at the SSE Arena in Belfast (2021)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Mass_vaccination_centre_at_the_SSE_Arena_in_Belfast_%282021%29.jpg)
Formerly the Odyssey Arena from 2000 to 2015.
Northern Ireland's biggest indoor arena, with a capacity of 11,000+ for concerts, hosts concerts and sporting events such as
Belfast Giants
The Belfast Giants (known officially as the Stena Line Belfast Giants due to sponsorship) are a professional ice hockey team based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. They compete in the UK's Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) and are the current cha ...
games. On 25 June 2015, it was announced the Arena would undergo a £3 million refurbishment and become the SSE Arena on 4 September 2015. The naming rights will last for 10 years.
Sports
![Odyssey Arena 03](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Odyssey_Arena_03.10.2010.jpg)
Since opening, the SSE Arena has been the home to the UK's Elite Ice Hockey League team, the
Belfast Giants
The Belfast Giants (known officially as the Stena Line Belfast Giants due to sponsorship) are a professional ice hockey team based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. They compete in the UK's Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) and are the current cha ...
. The Belfast Giants play weekly home games teams from across the U.K. throughout September to March of each year. On 2 October 2010, the
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...
faced the Belfast Giants 'Selects' in an
NHL Challenge match.
The venue also hosts a number of live sporting events including
WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vari ...
who brings superstars from ''
WWE Raw
''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. ET on the USA Network in the United States. The show fe ...
'' and ''
WWE Smackdown
''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that as of currently airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. Fox Deportes sim ...
'' brands so wrestling fans are able to watch their favourites perform live. On 16 June 2007, the SSE Arena hosted the
UFC 72: Victory as they continued their expansion into Europe where the live events were broadcast on pay-per-view in North America, the United Kingdom and Ireland.
World Champion Boxer
Carl Frampton
Carl Frampton (born 21 February 1987) is a former professional boxer from Northern Ireland who competed from 2009 to 2021. He is a former two-weight world champion, having held the WBA (Unified) and IBF super-bantamweight titles between 2014 a ...
has also fought at the SSE Arena. His first fight at the venue was in 2010 when he won the Commonwealth super-bantamweight title by a fourth-round TKO stoppage against Mark Quon. Carl Frampton has continued to fight in the SSE Arena, Belfast up until 2018 and helped promote Northern Ireland by using it as the venue for his matches
Since 2008, the venue has also played host to the
Premier League Darts
Premier League Darts is a darts tournament which launched on 20 January 2005 on Sky Sports. Now played weekly from February to May, the event originally started as a fortnightly fixture in small venues around the United Kingdom. The tournament ori ...
.
Odyssey Pavilion
![The Odyssey - Belfast](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/The_Odyssey_-_Belfast.jpg)
The Odyssey Pavilion was once home to a thriving nightlife including bars, nightclubs and restaurants. Notable examples include Rockies Sports Bar, Bar 7, Box Nightclub and Beach Nightclub. Several food companies were situated in The Pavilion including Soda Joes, Red Panda, La Tasca and The Streat Cafe alongside two well-known food chains including Northern Ireland's own Indian Ocean restaurants and
Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut is an American multinational restaurant chain and international franchise founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas by Dan and Frank Carney. They serve their signature pan pizza and other dishes including pasta, breadsticks and dessert a ...
.
Formerly known as the Odyssey Pavilion, the Odyssey will house multiple shops, restaurants, cafes, entertainment venues and leisure facilities. The major redevelopment of the Odyssey sees two new major companies entering the space. The previous Odyssey Cinema's space will now be home to world's second largest cinema chain
Cineworld
Cineworld Group plc is a British cinema operator headquartered in London, England. It is the world's second-largest cinema chain (after AMC Theatres), with 9,518 screens across 790 sites in 10 countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Irela ...
who will be redeveloping and entering the space of the previous Sheridan
IMAX cinema. The Odyssey Bowl home to arcade games, bowling alleys and a restaurant will re-launch itself after being purchased by the UK's best ten pin bowling alley, the
Hollywood Bowl Group, while
Zizzi
Zizzi is a chain of Italian-inspired restaurants in the United Kingdom and Ireland. In February 2015, Bridgepoint Capital completed a £250 million acquisition of '' ASK Italian'' and ''Zizzi'', and subsequently bought by TowerBrook Capital Partn ...
,
Nando's
Nando's (; ) is a South African multinational fast casual chain that specialises in flame-grilled peri-peri style chicken. Founded in Johannesburg in 1987, Nando's operates over 1,200 outlets in 30 countries. Their logo (also seen as a sort of ...
and
Five Guys
Five Guys Enterprises LLC (doing business as both Five Guys Burgers and Fries, and simply Five Guys) is an American fast food restaurant chain focused on hamburgers, hot dogs, and french fries, and headquartered in Lorton, Virginia, part of ...
will open restaurants in the pavilion, it is Cineworld and Hollywood Bowl's first ventures in Northern Ireland.
W5
![Dsc 0154-luckey-llcs-conflicted-copy-2014-07-11](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Dsc_0154-luckey-llcs-conflicted-copy-2014-07-11.jpg)
W5 stands for "Who, What, Where, When, Why". W5 was developed by Sally Montgomery, the Ulster Museum's project director (and then founding CEO) with the exhibitions being designed by Hands On Inc, Florida, United States, and
Ontario Science Centre
The Ontario Science Centre, formally the Centennial Museum of Science and Technology, is a science museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located near the Don Valley Parkway about northeast of downtown on Don Mills Road just south of Eg ...
, Canada. W5 has roughly 250 interactive exhibits, along with 6 themed exhibitions, in 3500 square metres of exhibition space, workshop space and lecture theatre.
W5 was a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Museums Northern Ireland until 31 March 2012 when it became a subsidiary of Odyssey Trust. W5 has won a number of awards, including Best Visitor Attraction, several times. In 2013, W5 opened 'Climbit', the biggest
Luckey Climber in Europe where small children can climb up twelve metres in total safety.
Future
In October 2009, The Odyssey Trust sought planning permission for a £100m extension plan. The plans include 800 residential units, two hotels, a promenade, shops, additional leisure facilities and a
multi-storey car park
A multistorey car park ( British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck or indoor parking, is a bui ...
.
On 29 November 2013, the owners of the Odyssey won planning permission for an extension to include hotels, shops and apartments creating around 1,000 new jobs. Work is due to start immediately, with around 800 people set to work on construction of the scheme – described as the biggest redevelopment in Belfast in years. Odyssey Trust's plan is to build next to the existing Odyssey Arena and Pavilion as part of the restart of the Belfast master plan.
In October 2017, it was announced that Planning Permission had been submitted to transform the Complex in a £10m refurbishment. Plans include a new entrance to the Odyssey Pavilion, upgrade of Public Realm and reconfiguration of existing retail units. Phase two will see improved visitor access and greater use of the central open space.
Awards
In 2006, the Odyssey Arena was short-listed for 'International Large Venue of the Year' (Over 8,000 seats) Outside of North America. This took place at the 17th Annual Pollstar Awards in 2006. This short-listing made the Odyssey Arena one of the top six major concert venues in the world.
The SSE Arena, Belfast, has won the ‘App of The Year’ at the 2017 DANI (Digital Advertising Northern Ireland) Awards.
Transport
The SSE Arena, Belfast is located in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast, Northern Ireland. If you are visiting the arena, it is a 15 minute walk from the City Centre of Belfast over the
Lagan Weir
The Lagan Weir, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, crosses the River Lagan between the Queen Elizabeth Bridge and the M3 cross-harbour bridge. Prior to the building of the weir, the river would be subject to tidal fluctuations, and low tide would ex ...
and Queen Elizabeth Bridges.
Visitors are also able to access the SSE Arena in many ways thanks to the services provided by
Translink NI.
Glider (Belfast)
Glider is a bus rapid transit system in Belfast, Northern Ireland, designed to improve the efficiency of mass transit in the city by connecting East and West Belfast and the Titanic Quarter via the city centre. The service is operated by Tran ...
is the newest way to access the arena from the city centre. The Glider Bus route 'G2' travels from the city centre to the Odyssey bus stop which allows users to depart right outside of the venue.
Metro (Belfast)
Metro is the trading name for bus company Citybus in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a subsidiary of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company, within the common management structure of Translink, along with Ulsterbus and Northern Irela ...
service '94' takes users from Donegall Square North, just outside the Visit
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...
Welcome Centre to the venue with stops immediately outside.
The
Titanic Quarter railway station
Titanic Quarter railway station (sometimes still referred to as Bridge End) is located in the townland of Ballymacarrett in east Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and l ...
is only a 10-minute walk away from the Arena and
Titanic Belfast
''Titanic'' Belfast is a visitor attraction opened in 2012, a monument to Belfast's maritime heritage on the site of the former Harland & Wolff shipyard in the city's Titanic Quarter where the RMS ''Titanic'' was built. It tells the stories ...
visitor centre. Exiting the railway station you cross the bypass bridge and turn left on Sydenham Road where the Arena is situated.
References
External links
SSE Arena, Belfast Official WebsiteOdyssey Pavilion Official WebsiteW5 Official Website
{{Authority control
Buildings and structures completed in 2001
Music venues completed in 2001
Sports venues completed in 2001
Indoor ice hockey venues in the United Kingdom
Buildings and structures in Belfast
Indoor arenas in Northern Ireland
Music venues in Belfast
Buildings and structures celebrating the third millennium
Concert halls in Northern Ireland
2001 establishments in Northern Ireland
Darts venues