Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre

The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre is a conference centre in London, England. It is located right in the heart of the city, a minute’s walk from the Palace of Westminster. The building dates from the mid 20th century and is in the brutalist style. It is operated by the British government and has executive agency status.

The centre specialises in events for between 40 and 1,000 delegates. The largest room is the Churchill Auditorium, which has a capacity of 700, and there are many smaller rooms. Due to its location it attracts many high profile meetings. However, it is not an exhibition/convention venue, and has no large exhibition halls.

It is widely felt that the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre is too small to meet modern demands as London’s main conference centre, while the city’s exhibition centres are also quite small by international standards.

As of 2005 the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, has commissioned a report to determine whether it would be economically beneficial to build a very large exhibition and conference centre in London so the city can compete to attract the world’s largest conventions. If this proposal is implemented it will probably be built at Stratford or elsewhere in the Thames Gateway.