Blank canvas venues are perfect for letting your imagination run wild and getting creative with corporate events.
Spice‘s sister directory, A LIST Guide, has rounded up 10 of the best blank canvas venues across Australia:
1. Claremont Showground
Perth’s Claremont Showground hosts more than 240 other events each year, attracting over one million visitors to the multi-purpose venue.
Claremont Showground boasts seven first-class pavilions, specialist function rooms, seminar facilities and outdoor areas including a central grassed arena.
The venues can hold anywhere from 20 people to 5000 people, making it the perfect setting for exhibitions, conferences, festivals, concerts, weddings and large events, as well as boutique events within the buildings.
2. Bunker
Designed with a true avant-garde attitude, Bunker Melbourne is an entirely customisable space, giving you the ability to tailor-make your experience.
With straight venue hire, you can choose your own preferred caterers and furniture suppliers and turn the space into a custom theme especially for your event.
Display you brand however you wish, using the on-site LED screen, projection wall and numerous decal locations.
A number of customisable event packages are also available to let the team do the planning for you.
3. Old Melbourne Gaol
The centrally located Old Melbourne Gaol is one of Melbourne’s most fascinating sites and an iconic venue than can host a variety of corporate functions.
Built of blue stone, the Gaol still contains the original cells which held some of Melbourne’s most notorious criminals, including the infamous bushranger Ned Kelly.
The Old Melbourne Gaol is a venue that will stir the senses and get your guests talking.
4. Hyde Park Barracks Museum
Hyde Park Barracks Museum is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, located on Macquarie Street in Sydney’s CBD, and is ideal for medium to large corporate events.
The barracks courtyard is the ideal space to create your own private haven in the centre of the city and a marquee can be erected to accommodate up to 350 guests for a banquet or 1200 guests for a cocktail party.
Once a room housing 70 convicts in hammocks, the Greenway Gallery is now an exhibition area and has been carefully and stylishly converted into gallery and event space.
5. Lightspace
Lightspace is a boutique event and exhibition venue located in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane. Hatched from a converted warehouse, its features include lofty warehouse spaces, rustic industrial chic and an outdoor terrace.
Lightspace provides the ideal blank canvas for events, product launches, fashion parades, exhibitions, photo shoots, video clips, weddings, parties and anything you can imagine.
With ample open space, the venue can be booked as one 660-square-metre room or two distinct spaces. These can be subdivided into smaller areas for more intimate functions and events.
6. Cell Block Theatre
The Cell Block Theatre at Sydney’s National Art School is a visually remarkable building and a significant feature of Australia’s colonial and cultural heritage.
The Cell Block Theatre is a hidden gem featuring 10-metre-high golden sandstone walls, creating a gracious cathedral-like atmosphere that is highly adaptable.
The sandstone walls and wooden floors keep the simplicity of the space focused on the history that has been, making the Cell Block Theatre a unique, yet flexible venue for many types of events.
7. Plaza Ballroom
The Plaza Ballroom, located at the Regent Theatre in Melbourne, is an iconic event space providing exceptional contemporary catering and impeccable service within a spectacular setting.
Descend the grand staircase to the foyer simulating a Spanish piazza where pre-dinner drinks can be served. On entering the Plaza Ballroom, marvel at the intricate architecture, stunning original chandeliers, emblazoned high ceiling, decorative stage and versatile open floor plan.
The venue benefits from a flexible floor plan and can facilitate lunches or gala dinner events for 200 to 550 guests, cocktail receptions for 400 to 1200 guests and presentation-style events for 400 to 800 guests.
8. The Studio
The Studio is the perfect Sydney venue for a wide variety of events, self-catered and self-styling, with any budget in mind.
It’s home to Sydney’s largest private projection screen, with a choice of two huge projection walls and audiovisual equipment. The double entrances, roller or double-side doors, allow for the greatest impact.
Upstairs is Sydney’s brightest top-lit studio, the perfect blank canvas to show off your product. It’s complete with stools, tables and chairs to complete your event.
9. Butler Lane
Butler Lane is a contemporary warehouse venue located in Richmond, Melbourne.
The architecturally designed space features floor-to-ceiling windows, a lush open courtyard and polished concrete floors.
Butler Lane is ideal for multiple event configurations of the casual or formal variety and will indulge a banquet for 180 or a cocktail party for 300. It’s accessible by tram and only minutes walk from North Richmond train station.
10. The Venue
The Venue Alexandria is conveniently located between Sydney’s International Airport and the CBD.
The Venue offers clients a large, flexible space with first class amenities catering to a wide variety of events including gala dinners, product launches, fashion shows, conferences, corporate functions, social events and weddings.
The Venue Alexandria features three event spaces, with the largest space catering to 1000 guests for dinner, cocktail style or conferencing.
There is direct access into The Venue to accommodate a range of vehicles and equipment as well as a loading dock for ease of delivery. Car parking facilities for up to 250 vehicles is located above the space with lift access directly to the venue.
