Plans have been unveiled for a £700million overhaul of the Olympia exhibition centre in London.  The 130-year-old listed arched glazed exhibition centre is to be refurbished and modernised. 

Plans include a new 1,500-seat theatre plus a cinema and a conference centre.  The plans also include two hotels, a co-working office and a studio block plus restaurants as well as 2.5 acres of new public space alongside and above the existing buildings. 

The existing main halls would be modernised and a new mezzanine levels would be added.

The delivery hub would also be moved underground for the convenience of the exhibition organizer as well as to improve traffic flow on Olympic Way.

The refurbishment and extension plans have been drawn upby design studio Heatherwick Studio.

The project will be phased and is expected to take around four or five years to complete.

Olympia had, until recently, competed with Earls Court for conference and events business in west London before the demolition of Earls Court in 2015. Now Olympia competes with ExCeL in London’s docklands as one of the big two exhibition and events centres in London.