Anambra State Conference Centre
ABSTRACT
Conferences are viewed as one of the greatest assets of any organisation when it is viewed as an organised thinking environment. It is indispensable to any society and as such calls for an avenue or focal point where people can gather to express their ideas and views. Its need by society’s, individuals and organisations cannot be underestimated as it gives room for formal and informal meeting. Its origin can be traced down to the use of open spaces, courtyards, village squarnes and market squares to hold meetings during the earliest times. Ilo and Obu houses were used in south Eastern Nigeria as a meeting ground while the Agora and Forums were used for meeting areas in Greece and Rome respectively. In Nigeria today, Anambra state conference centre comes with the packages of providing an avenue where conferences, seminars lectures, workshop, and recreational activities can be comfortably organised. It also seeks to generate revenue for the state and also promote the values of the State, companies and various corporate organisations. Various case studies carried out on conference centres depicts their merits and demerits. The merits of each conference centre will be utilized while solutions for the demerits will be provided in the proposed conference centre. Conference centres cannot function properly without good planning and technical considerations like lighting, fire, day lighting, acoustics, ventilation, security, landscape, and construction materials. Taking all these into consideration will create a stepping stone into ensuring efficiency in use. The functional relationship of spaces created in the conference centre also determines the maximum efficiency of the conference. A good space relationship will encourage maximum utilization of the conference centre. A proper space program or analysis and services provided will also determine the magnitude and size of the conference centre. The space requirement will show the number of persons to each room provided. This is essential so as to avoid congestion or over utilization of the facilities provided. Internal and external circulation of cars and visitors will be properly separated so as to avoid conflict. Direction and separation of groups attending different meeting and functions or activities will be properly planned to achieve flexibility in design in order to accommodate all forms of activities.