Sometimes a fresh perspective can really help motivate and inspire people. The problem with internal meeting rooms is that sometimes the routine that is associated with office space means creativity and engagement is sometimes stifled. To spice things up one option is to take the meeting away from familiar surroundings into the unknown and unusual! Reactionary and revolutionary or downright awe inspiring, the right location and environment can turn otherwise dull meetings into progressive decision making machines! To inspire you we look at the more unusual meeting rooms currently available on the market – from the old farm barn to the meeting room in the tree tops.

1. Farms

It might sound strange but one of the best meeting room experiences is likely to be one that is the furthest away from the standard meeting room environment. Many internal meetings have to contend with office noise, stuffy office ventilation and quite often dull surroundings. Surprisingly the offices' spiritual opposite, the farm or countryside manors, might actually be the key to fantastic meetings. Countryside based work environments and meeting venue spaces offer fantastic and inspirational surroundings whilst removing all those office distractions. Their rustic charm and tranquillity make them firm favourites for companies looking for a special venue for training purposes or running corporate events. The benefit of the modern day farm venues is that they are also equipped with the latest technology making them perfect for any type of meeting. Thus the furthest departure from the meeting room might also result in the perfect meetings…

2. Theatres and Cinemas

Despite the wide range of different venues opening their doors to corporate clientele looking for meeting facilities there is one type of venue that probably suits the theatrics of modern meetings better than any other. If your meetings are missing that star quality or if you feel you need to make a song and dance about team performances then consider the benefits of hosting your meetings in a theatre or cinema environment.

Almost every theatre and cinema offers conference venue facilities. In fact they are so suited to certain styles of meetings/conferences that they even have a room arrangement named after them. As such they are usually suited to large scale meeting events like company meetings and announcements that require a large amount of space, big projection or presentation areas and a large auditorium. Many theatres and cinemas also have smaller meeting rooms for slightly smaller audiences but really you've always wanted to be on stage haven't you?

3. Eco Meeting Rooms

In recent years a huge focus has been put on businesses to reduce their carbon emissions and become more environmentally conscious about their activities. More businesses are looking to environmentally friendly ways to run operations – even meetings have had the green influence. There are a host of different options when trying to reduce the carbon footprint of your meetings – from recycled notepads and stationary to reducing energy consumption through dimmer lighting and reduced heating. However there are venues that go that bit further to earn their greener credentials.

Worcester Woods Country Park is a country side education centre based in the tranquil British Worcestershire countryside. The building benefits not just from energy saving lighting or ethically sources furniture but from the efficiencies of having a wood fuel boiler and turf roof. The wood fuel boiler keeps the building warm whilst having a low carbon footprint. The lawn roof is also an excellent natural (!) way of keeping the building insulated. Similarly other solutions such as Bell Tents completely do away with building structures in favour of large cotton canvas tents that can be erected at any pretty much any location so long as there is room. These environments may not come with the modern essentials such as projectors or other audiovisual equipment but they certainly cut the electricity and energy bills down..!

4. Tree top rooms

We find our next unusual meeting room at one with nature as any eco meeting room. In fact this meeting room is set between two oak trees suspended high above the ground. Yes that’s right – our next unusual meeting room is a true green space in every sense of the word.

Theobald's Park is home to one of the UK's most impressive tree house meeting rooms. Elevated in between the branches of two mature oak tree, this Cheshunt Tree House is every bit the part to encourage blue sky thinking. Flooded with natural lighting (of course!) and fully equipped with everything you come to expect from a meeting room the tree top house is perfect for unconventional but aspirational meetings.

These meeting venues all have the benefit of being in inspirational environments that can improve the flow of meetings. If you are looking for a change in scenery then perhaps taking your office meeting to a new environment will rustle some feathers and get your group thinking.

About the author

De Vere’s meeting rooms have excellent facilities that are perfect for team building events, training or business meeting of all shapes and sizes.