St Anne Cathedral Ifuho

The St Anne Cathedral is a Catholic Church building, was built in 1947 and was renovated in 2007. It is a bungalow with a double volume height. St Anne Cathedral is located in Ifuho, Ikot-Ekpene Local Government Area, Akwa-Ibom state, Nigeria.

            The cathedral style of architecture is the Romanesque style. The cathedral has a regular symmetrical plan. The cathedral building has a buttress. A Buttress are generally a flat square profile which does not project a great deal beyond the walls of the building.

Fig 1

            On the approach view the Buttress are crown with a cylindrical Pinnacle: ( a Pinnacle is an architectural ornament, which forms the original cap or crown of a Buttress or small turrets) fig1. 
The front Buttress has Colonettes on it, Fig1. A Colonettes are small, thin columns, often used for decorative or to support an arcades. On the approach view of the cathedral has three doors, the left and right doors has the same design pattern and size. while the middle door is bigger and serves as the Cathedral Portal.

 

Fig 2

            The cathedral portal has the typical Romanesque architectural features. It is design and constructed to accommodate a Spandrel, Archvolts and Voussoirs, Tympanum, Lintel, Jamb Column and Jamb Pedestal as seen in Fig 2.
Spandrel: is the triangular space between on the side of the outer curve of an arch, wall or ceiling.
Archvolts and Voussoirs: This is an ornamental moulding or a band following the curve on the under side of an arch.
Tympanum: Is the surface enclosed by an arch and lintel of an arched doorway, it is frequently carved with relief sculptures.
Lintel: It is a horizontal structure block and it spans an opening between two vertical supports. A lintel can be a decorative architectural ornament element and it can be found over doors, windows, portals.
Jamb Column: It is one of a pair of vertical pieces, that together form the sides of  a portal and often contains sculptures.
Jamb Pedestal: This is the base that supports a column, stature.

Fig 3

        The building east and west elevations features sixteen Clerestory pivoted small windows and nine windows down each Fig 3. A Clerestory is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level, its purpose is to admit lights and air circulation or human comfort.

Fig 4

Fig 5

Fig 6

The cathedral church building has semi-circular arches. Ceramic tiles was used for the floor finishes, for the ceiling PVC ceiling boards was used. The cathedral had a gable roof style which is cover with long span aluminum roofing sheets. Walls are thick and massive which is painted with a nice colour combination. windows were aluminum pivoted profile, with glazed glass.