Emergency Evacuation Routes – Conference Aston

A step-by-step guide to navigating Aston Conference Centre and instructions on emergency exits.

Entrance and reception area

• As you stand outside the Aston Conference Centre facing the main entrance, behind you, to the right and left are grass banks with no steps. Directly behind you is a grass verge that raises slightly with a step up.
• To enter the building from the main entrance there are three options. Facing the main entrance to the left is an automatic rotating door which turns anticlockwise. The door starts to rotate on approach and can be manually pushed if required. In the centre there is a manual opening door and to the right is an automatic door, which opens on approach.
• Entering through the automatic door on your right there is a slight lip on the floor in line with the frame and there is a non-slip matt on entering. There are several more non-slip mats as you move through the entrance around the door area.
• Once inside the building there is a seating area in front of you slightly to the right. Turn left, on your right-hand side and you will find the events welcome desk (open from 8am to 10am), lift to the bedrooms and reception desk. This has a lowered accessible countertop to the left-hand side.

Conference registration area

• Walking past the reception desk with it on your right the floor starts a gentle slope down toward the restaurant and toilets at the end of the corridor. Along the corridor to the left is a ceiling to waist height glass window.
• Continuing down the corridor after the first slope there is a levelled-out section and to the right of this is the conference registration area. The conference registration consists of two long rectangle tables at waist height.

Lounge, bar and emergency exit

• The floor continues, on a descending slope, for the second time with a handrail to the right at waist height.
• As you reach the second levelled out part of the floor to the right there is the entrance to the lounge. This is a wide, high archway opening.
• As you continue down the corridor the floor declines again for a third slope with a handrail to the right at waist height. Once you reach the flat levelled out section to the right, there is the wide high arch opening for the bar. Directly opposite the bar is the exit to the outside courtyard. There is a lip at the door, and it opens out onto a flat level. About 4ft ahead there are 2 steps up onto another level. This door would be used as an emergency exit.

Restaurant, toilets, lift and stairs

• Continuing further down the corridor to the left there are ceiling to waist high windows. The floor remains flat from here. The floor changes surface from stone to wood with a smoother texture. Once the surface changes you are approaching the restaurant and toilets.
• At the end of the corridor, you turn right to the toilets and stairwell. The lift is on the right approx. 20ft before the end of the corridor. You then turn left entering a narrower corridor which bends right. You will find the female toilets to your left, the male toilets straight ahead and on your right, you will find the accessible toilets and baby changing facilities.
• To access the stairwell and the emergency exit turn right at the end of the main corridor. The exit is straight ahead of you and the stairs are on the right-hand side as you go through the first door.

Conference rooms, courtyard

• Turning left at the end of the main corridor or walking straight ahead from the toilet area is the entrance to the restaurant. There is a straight walk through the centre of the restaurant towards Conference Room 1. As you walk through the restaurant, there are double doors on your left leading to the outside courtyard. The floor continues to be wood, and the noise levels increase.
• As you approach the conference room area the floor surface changes from wood to carpet. As this happens, you turn left to enter a corridor. Along this corridor on the right-hand side there are three sets of double doors about 3 metres apart. These doors open outwards. These are the doors to conference room 1.
• Continuing past the conference room 3, which is on the left, there are toilets, female, male and accessible on your left and on the right is another door to conference room 1. This enters conference room 1 on the left- hand side when facing the front of the room.
• From any exit from conference room 1 turn left to head back towards the restaurant.

First floor conference rooms

• When exiting the restaurant to the main corridor there is a lift to the left which takes you to the first floor to conference rooms 122, 123, 127,139, 144, 145. The lift has two sets of opening doors, when exiting the lift on the first floor the opposite doors will open to entering the lift. The lift has audio announcements.
• When exiting the lift turn right then turn left walking through a set of doors that open towards you. This brings you to the meeting room corridor.
• On the right side of the meeting corridor there are conference rooms 122,123. To the left are more meeting rooms and straight ahead is an emergency exit and conference room 127.
• At the start and end of the meeting corridor there are self-closing fire doors in an event of an emergency. These doors will all be re-opened after an evacuation.

First floor toilets, tea/coffee station and fire exit

• Once at the end of the meeting room corridor turn left into a narrow corridor with office doors either side. At the end of this corridor there are female and male toilets to the left. These toilets are the nearest when using conference rooms 122, 123,127.
• Just past the toilets there is a self-closing door that opens inwards. Walking forward there is a tea and coffee station to the left and to the right of this there are 3 sets of bar tables with 6 stools about 4ft high
• Walking past the tea and coffee station to your left you come to another narrow corridor with meeting rooms on either side. There is a self-closing door at the end of this corridor and more female and male toilets on the left-hand side.
• On your right there is a fire exit for conference rooms 144, 145. This door is on the left as you exit these meeting rooms. There is a very small L shape corridor here to navigate to the fire exit.
• Exiting conference room 145 the emergency exit is the second door on the left. This will be the only unlocked door here. It is a wide opening outward door.
• Once through the door you are on a resting area which is a flat landing in between stairwells. To the left of the door, when facing it, is the refuge box or communications button with security. There is braille on the bottom of this red box, which is about 30cm by 15cm in size. To the left of this box when facing it there is a plaque with the name of the floor and building also in braille underneath.
• In an event of an emergency exit if you require assistance this is where you would wait.
• From the resting area, moving forward to the stairs the upward stairs are to the right and the downward stairs to the left. There is a rail either side but the right handrail is continuous around the stairs. Follow these stairs right to the bottom and the fire exit door is straight ahead on the lower level. This door leads to the outside space and this is a self-shutting security door with an opening bar/handle.
• Turning left at the bottom of the stairs brings you back to the side door to conference room 1. Turning right will bring you to male, female and accessible toilets. Turning the second left will bring you to the corridor that leads to the restaurant and back through to the main corridor to the reception desk at the front of the building.