Purpose-built World Class Exhibition Venue—Nangang Exhibition Hall

Nangang Exhibition Hall, which officially opens in March, offers outdoor exhibition space as well as increased indoor space and, with respect to entry, exit and on-site decorating management, has clearer and more detailed regulations.

Suppliers attending Taipei Cycle, Asia’s biggest cycle show and the third biggest in the world, which will be held from March 13 to 16 in the new Nangang Exhibition Hall, will enjoy more space than in the old venue, Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall 1.

People and cars separated Crowding a thing of the past

The scenes of vehicles crowded together that were seen at the TWTC Exhibition Hall 1 will not be seen when the Nangang Exhibition Hall opens.

Goods vehicles and small passenger vehicles will enter and leave the venue and car park from Jingmao Road on the east side of the Hall. Visitors will enter the Hall from three points on Jingmao No.2 Road. To ease traffic flow and the impact on local traffic, in front of the main gate on the west side there is a bus bay, an outer lane that will have a shuttle bus and public bus waiting area and an inner lane that will have a taxi and small passenger vehicle alighting area. The inner and outer lanes are both two-way.

To effectively disperse crowds, director of the Nangang Exhibition Hall’s Conference and Exhibition Section, Liao Jun-sheng, said that during exhibitions no goods vehicles will go in or out of the exhibition hall and taxis will wait in front of the goods vehicle exit on the east side of the hall.

Shuttle bus pick-up and delivery Integrating benefits of both halls

At present Nangang Exhibition Hall has no nearby hotels and the MRT subway Neihu and Nangang lines have yet to open. If some events are held jointly at the Nangang Exhibition Hall and TWTC Exhibition Hall 1 an extremely important issue is how to allow buyers and the public to travel between the two venues efficiently, avoiding crowd dispersion reducing the benefits of the event.

Shuttle buses will be arranged between Nangang Exhibition Hall and important locations like TWTC Hall 1, airports, MRT stations and city hotels (Note 1).

With regards to this, director of Nangang Exhibition Hall, Huang Siao-kuan, said that apart from shuttle buses, the planning of the exhibition area is very important. Main events like pre-conference press conference can be held in the Nangang Exhibition Hall and signs posted and other related design work carried out in both venues. Suppliers and the visiting public will certainly be made to feel that they have to visit both venues to see the exhibition in full.

Square venue Crowds evenly spread

Many of the problems faced by the public and suppliers in TWTC Exhibition Hall 1, for example feeling like they are in a maze, have been resolved by Nangang Exhibition Hall.

TWTC Exhibition Hall is not square which prevents effective flow line planning, leaving some suppliers to complain that they are stuck in a “dead” corner. Supplies also complain that they have difficulty guiding buyers to their booths even when were already at the hall. Some people also find that even finding a toiler is no easy task.

Nangang Exhibition Hall’s lower and upper exhibition halls are square. Three entrances and exits form flow lines and divide the space into three exhibition areas. Mr. Liao believes that one of the advantages of the Nangang Exhibition Hall is "Each of the three exhibition spaces of each exhibition hall has an entrance and exit.”  Buyers, members of the public and suppliers will know where to go at a glance. The flow lines are clear and people and vehicles will easily be able to find where they want to go.

In the exhibition halls, the toilets are all on the east side. During exhibitions, goods vehicles will not use the east side door so this side will be used for shops during exhibitions. Liao said “The visitors will all come in from the west so we want to guide some to the east side, evenly spreading people around the venue as best we can.

In addition, the lower and upper exhibition halls have north-south and east-west floor cable ducts which will allow cables and pipes to be laid under the floor. Shows that need to use a lot of water, like Taipei Food and Taipei International Plastic & Rubber Show, will be able to reduce the number of pipes on the floor surface which will make the venue look tidier and more attractive and also be safer.

Outdoor exhibition space Excellent venue for events

Another special feature of Nangang Exhibition Hall is its outdoor exhibition space. Mr. Huang said TWTC Exhibition Hall 1 has limited outside space while Nangang Exhibition Hall has ample space and has a round theater and outdoor exhibition space in Trade Square that is around 1000 square meters in size, able to host moving events during exhibitions.

This will not just be useful for the March cycle show, it will also allow beer festivals, food streets and other related activities to be held at the same time as large events like Food Taipei.

The sixth floor has an outdoor garden that can be used for BBQ, parties and opening cocktail parties. Mr. Lao said “Foreign suppliers like to hold outdoor parties. The drainage system is very good here and, after a few lights are erected, the atmosphere is very good.”

Purpose built exhibition hall More able to meet business requirements

Mr. Huang stressed the concept behind the building of the TWTC Hall 1 was “Trade Mart” whereas Nangang Exhibition Hall is Taiwan’s first “Purpose-built Exhibition Hall.”

Consequently, the features of the Hall are more in line with the needs of suppliers, buyers and organizers. For example, when specialized exhibitions involve business secrets, buyers and suppliers need privacy when engaging in discussions. The space available at TWTC Hall 1 is limited so, in the past, hotel rooms often had to be rented for private discussions. However, Nangang Exhibition Hall has numerous meeting rooms that can be used. Mr. Liao pointed out that the Hall also has small meeting rooms for the use of buyers and suppliers when talking business.

Extended entry and exit 24-hour use applications on case-by-case basis

The new exhibition hall has not just brought hardware changes, regulations relating to entering and exiting the venue and on-site work have also changed. (note 2)

Because TWTC Hall 1’s event schedule is tightly packed the entry time is squeezed. Nangang Exhibition Hall has larger space and, because it is just starting up operations, its schedule will not be so full, allowing entry and exit to be extended. Taking Taipei Cycle as an example, entry starts from March 8 and the show will start on March 13, extending the entry time to five days. Exit time will be around two days.

Time will be exchanged for space. To avoid crowding, in future entering and exiting the venue will adopt a shift system and control measures will be adopted day and night to prevent too many vehicles entering or exiting at one time. Also, a flexible approach will be taken to venue opening and suppliers requiring 24-hour venue access can apply for this.

Use of clamshell cranes banned

When goods vehicles arrive at the Hall they will all enter on the east side, accessing the upper level via the ramp. On the east side of the Hall there are three large goods elevators, each with six ton, capacity that can be used to carry display items and booth materials.

Another point to note is that the Nangang Exhibition Hall bans the use of clamshell cranes which will make exiting from the venue relatively slow. The use of re-usable decorating materials is advised.

Comfort Energy saving People first
Playing an integration platform role

“Our objective is comfort, energy saving and putting people first” said Huang Siao-kuan when asked about the objective for the next two years. He pointed out that in the future service will be more flexible and supplier needs will be met as much as possible. A more active approach will also be taken to encouraging suppliers to use Nangang Exhibition Hall.

In the future, Nangang Exhibition Hall will integrate various services and will not just be a performance stage, cooperating with the Tourism Bureau and other bodies to play a role as an integration platform, not only stimulating the development of industry in Taiwan, also making a contribution to the overseas marketing of tourism and good food.