The centre is part of the masterplanned Exchange District in the west end of the city, and was designed by the architect Sir Terry Farrell who ran the project from his Edinburgh office with his team, opened to manage this project and other work in the Exchange.

It caters to around 200,000 delegates every year and generates in excess of £60m in revenue for the City of Edinburgh Council.

In 1999 the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland was held in the EICC.

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 1997 (CHOGM) was held in the EICC.

[1] Between 2008 and 2011 protests took place at the EICC on the occasion of the RBS AGM, responding to several controversies including the bank's bailout-out by the UK Government and concerns about the bank's funding of fossil fuel companies.