MEMBER IN THE SPOTLIGHT: AREA 42

Every partner in the Brussels Special Venues family do an amazing job to welcome you and your guests ! This way, it seems important for us to often give them the floor!
Discover who is behind one of them and learn more about the specificity and the vision of the place in 5 questions.
Today, it is Vanessa Cano who is manager at AREA 42, that we will be meeting…

What role do you play at your venue?

In 2009, private owner and patron Edouard Poullain fell in love with a 2,000-m² space in the prestigious former RTT building (Belgian national telegraph and telephone company) designed by Michel Polak, the famous architect behind the Villa Empain here in Brussels.

Together with contemporary artists, he turned it into a BtoB events space and ‘out-of-the-box’ meetings venue in inspiring, stylish, cosy surroundings.

I have run this magnificent space since 2011, backed up by my team of managers, stewards and technicians.

Incidentally, in line with the wishes of the owner, who is passionate about contemporary art and an artist himself (https://www.edouardpoullain.com), every summer we invite up-and-coming artists to come and work in our spaces, as the rooms are closed to businesses during this period.

It is an opportunity for them to recharge their batteries and to make the most of our beautiful surroundings and our all-pervading natural light.

We can then exhibit the artistic creations resulting from these summer residences to our corporates and thus nurture the uniqueness of our spaces.

Three strong points that make your venue unique?

AREA 42 is an inspiring setting that makes a huge contribution to the success of our clients’ events.
The two storeys, brimming with surprises, can accommodate from 100 to 900 people. 
Its dedicated original artworks, designer furniture, exclusive prototypes, rare and remarkable materials and impressive volumes all stimulate creativity.

Area 42 is one of the very rare contemporary venues that offer a huge setting right in the heart of Brussels, with multiple ambiance options and outstanding modularity.
AREA 42 welcomes a great many national and international institutional clients, public services and large NGOs keen to remain within their events budget, as our rates are competitive and fair.

Finally, AREA 42 is currently the only venue in Brussels that continues to allow clients to choose their own caterers, without a corkage fee or commission! 

What facilities does your venue offer for a B2B event?

We are free and flexible! 
If the client would like a turnkey option, the venue offers basic kits and we have worked closely for many years with Brussels’ best service providers to offer an all-in service that includes the technical installations, the caterer, the decoration and the staff, all covered by a single bill, if necessary.

Our service providers are very responsive and we are accustomed to working with them. They know the venue inside out, we know what they offer and we are able to advise our clients. So we don’t waste time and we remain efficient.
For large-scale congresses, clients can manage their entire event here, with their usual service providers, without any constraints on our part.
We aim to serve our clients as they wish!

You are a BSV member. Why did you join us ?

AREA 42 has been a member virtually from the start of venues.be and unfortunately had to interrupt its membership during the COVID crisis. We are delighted to be back within the association.

Venues.be is the best-quality online search tool for BtoB venues. It is indispensable. It improves constantly, year after year and it is an honour to be among its magnificent collection of events venues in Brussels!

In addition, it is very advantageous as well as pleasant to work with colleagues and combine forces. 

Last question on the future of events: How did you cope following the pandemic and how do you see the evolution of events in the months to come?

We managed to cope, despite the inadequacy of the aid provided for our sector in Brussels. 
Our clients did not abandon us and many of them deferred their events. As soon as windows opened to organise an event, they were ready to restart the process.

We believe that in-person remains the best option for conferences, especially with large groups of 200 to 300 people.
Hybrid is another complementary technique and an advantageous way of increasing the size of the audience.
Nevertheless, for parties and incentives, in-person is still the most effective solution!

We remain confident about the future, because our freedom, our flexibility and our customer-service oriented strategy ensure that we have a real capacity to adapt.

Would you like to know more about Area 42 and/or get in touch with them? Find this comer on Area 42