Special events require special venues. Yes, there are situations and specific brand needs where the venue is an integral part of the experience. Now, any major city offers numerous spaces, singular and creative, with varying degrees of exclusivity, that we can consider as options for our next event. But for this article, we want to take it a step further by compiling spaces that not any budget could support, but that would undoubtedly add that unique and unforgettable touch to an event. Here we go with the world’s most spectacular venues for your corporate events.
The Star Theater, Singapore
With a capacity for over 5,000 attendees, this theater was designed not only to host concerts, opera, and ballet. It is also as a multifunctional venue for award ceremonies, product launches, conventions, and congresses. Located in an iconic building, it offers additional spaces such as the loft, gallery, and terrace, of smaller dimensions, for other types of corporate events. The entire complex is equipped with high-end video, lighting, and sound systems. That is why it's particularly suitable for events featuring prominent guest speakers or musical bands.
Obonjan Island, Croatia
And what about an entire island for your corporate event? And not in the Caribbean, more famous for this type of destinations. The island of Obonjan is located just a few kilometers off the Dalmatian Coast, between the cities of Split and Zadar. This small uninhabited island with a resort offers a perfect balance between adventure and relaxation. And best of all, the entire island can be rented for private events with all kinds of sports and water activities, and excellent gastronomy. Certainly, a team-building experience in a space like this is something only large corporations could afford, but undoubtedly, it would be a memory for a lifetime for any employee.
1111 Lincoln Road, Miami, United States
This parking building was designed by the famous Swiss architecture bureau Herzog & de Meuron. The same bureau behind the Allianz Arena project in Munich and the iconic Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. In the case of 1111 Lincoln Road, it's also a absolute architectural fantasy with spacious open areas spread across 7 floors where events of all kinds can take place, from private wine tastings to fashion shows. While a significant portion of the building serves its original purpose, the seventh floor is explicitly designed for events. With a capacity for 700 guests and the surface of nearly 2,500 square meters, this concrete space is the ideal venue if you're looking for something out of the ordinary. And with the added bonus of views of the city of Miami.
Fortezza da Basso, Florence, Italy
The list of the world’s most spectacular venues for your events would be incomplete without an all-purpose venue. A great example would be the complex of the Fortezza da Basso, or the Fortress of Saint John the Baptist (its official name). It's a Renaissance fortress with a total area of 80,000 square meters, of which 55,000 are covered spaces. It was built by architects Pier Francesco da Viterbo and Antonio da Sangallo il Giovane in 1534-37 at the behest of Alessandro de' Medici. Currently, the venue is managed and marketed by the Firenze Fiera (the Fair of Florence). It consists of 10 distinct spaces of varying capacity and size for events of any scale, from the most intimate to the most crowded.
The North Pole
Sounds crazy, isn’t it? Certainly, attending an event aboard a nuclear icebreaker, at a 90-degree angle to the Earth's geographic pole, is something very few will have the chance to experience in their lives. And yet, it exists as an option. It’s a cruise that includes unique activities such as crossing all time zones of our planet (actually just running around the marked North Pole point on the ice), rising above the top of the world in a hot air balloon to contemplate the landscape, spotting polar bears, or listening to the creaking of the enormous ice sheet breaking under the bow of the ship in the midst of polar silence. And though this floating venue is not accessible to the majority of mortals due to its high cost, it still would undoubtedly be a highly disruptive idea for an offsite meeting of top executives from a large corporation.
Las Vegas Sphere, United States
Let's conclude our list with the building that has garnered the most attention in 2023, the famous Las Vegas Sphere. Its dimensions are truly monstrous (112 meters tall and 157 wide). It can host 18,600 people at a time. It took 5 years to build and cost a staggering 2.3 billion dollars. And while there is a wide range of opinions regarding its profitability, what is clear is that in the world of immersive experiences, there is nothing quite like it. The animations for the interior screen must be designed using strict mathematical calculations to eliminate the sensation of the dome. The 164,000 speakers ensure truly spectacular sound. While the seats with haptic vibration enhance the sense of immersion.
