Osprey Hotel unveils new Ballroom

We are delighted to unveil our €1 million new ballroom which was designed by celebrity architect and star of RTE’s’ Home of the Year’, Hugh Wallace of Douglas Wallace Architects. 

Stretching to almost 6,000 sq ft our new function room, located just off the main lobby area has been a hugely popular venue for many years for weddings, local events, conferences, and post Punchestown racing festivities. Despite the fact that it has served our loyal customers and guests very well we wanted to completely revamp the space in order for it to become more attractive, particularly for wedding couples.   Essentially, we wanted an elegant and contemporary multifunctional space, the finest ballrooms in Leinster.

Style and Design:

Hugh Wallace, together with his colleagues Damian Meehan and Katie Jakkulla set about creating a light, airy function space that could be used for weddings, gala dinners, large events, or conferences. The design was inspired by ‘The Great Gatsby’ and ‘The Roaring Twenties’, a time that was renowned for glamourous parties and celebrations.   They reconfigured the existing ballroom and created a meaningful and practical connection with the central courtyard, extended the pre function space and designed a brand new bar. Huge double height floor to ceiling glass was installed on the wall to the courtyard which allows the space to take advantage of the landscaped outdoor space and to be flooded with natural light. The double height ceilings and the addition of stunning light fittings have added more than just a flourish of elegance to the room. 

There are nods to the famous 1920’s art deco style throughout the room and can be seen in the wall mounted lighting fixtures, brass, mirrors and glass. However, the design is a modern interpretation of the famous style which traditionally used a lot of dark, polished wood and heavy fabrics.  The new scheme sees the space bathed in a light, fresh colour palette of white, slate grey and sand while light shell pink and vibrant raspberry tones provides little pops of colour.

The centre piece of the design is our stunning new bar, situated in the pre function area to the left of the room as you enter.  Bevelled mirrors bedeck the back of the bar which is finished with brass framed shelving while a stunning granite countertop completes our new look.

The idea was to have the space to feel glamourous but elegant and cool at the same time. The combination of various textures such as the book matched Piracema White Granite on the countertop with glass, brass, wood, and lightweight fabrics creates a space that feels glamourous but elegant and cool at the same time. The granite has tiny rivulets of grey and white running through it and there are very subtle hints of pink in the natural stone, a colour we picked up in the soft furnishings. The herringbone wooden floor in the bar area is practical and adds warmth to the hard materials while the use of pattern is very subtle and understated. All of this means the space will provide a neutral backdrop for all kinds of future events or particular wedding themes.

The bar area has been furnished with a mix of low couches and upholstered tub chairs in shades of raspberry, light pink, sand and grey colours which are picked up in the carpet in the main function space.   The complete bar area can be closed off by the stunning, wooden framed, metal laser cut, concertina doors which are both functional and extremely beautiful.  When closed these feature doors allow light to stream through the cut-out shapes creating an interesting lustre on the pre function space floor, the cut-outs also offer just tiny glimpses into the main function space from the bar allowing privacy for an event or civil ceremony.

In the main function room, the walls are covered in white wooden panelling which has been finished with stylish moulding and adorned with elegant, brass art deco style wall lights.  Overhead, clusters of Bohemian Crystal hang at various heights creating drama.  The chairs here are upholstered in a very light pink, double weaved linen while lime washed Chivari chairs will also be available if you prefer.

We decided against a permanent stage or dance floor in order to allow you to have complete control over where you would like to position these large items.  Our stage and dancefloor are completely mobile and can be installed anywhere in the ballroom. This makes the new ballroom much more flexible for wedding couples and event organisers. It is a really large room and can accommodate 420 people, theatre style or 350 people at round tables.

Our new ballroom has been also fitted out with the very latest in high-tech audio-visual equipment including a retractable 5 x 3.5 metre screen to receive the visuals from the state of the art Digital 10,000 Lumens, 4k Ready Projection system.  There are also blackout blinds and a flexible audio system that allows multiple set up directions within the room for any event. Wired, Wifi casting and Bluetooth options are in place as well as Advanced Digital processing equipment to ensure a crisp, feedback free live or recorded presentation.  Wireless roving microphones and headsets are also available as well as zoned audio areas.

To make an appointment to view our new ballroom at The Osprey Hotel call us on  (045) 881111.