The
Courtyard
and foyer
The first hello.
The courtyard and foyer are where Tailrace begins. They’re the arrival point for the whole centre and during the day they hum with the kind of genuine activity that most venues spend a lot of effort trying to simulate.
By evening, they transform. Canapés, drinks, fire pits in the courtyard, and guests who arrive already feeling like the night is underway. By the time the doors to the main room open, the atmosphere is already built.
Arrival Cocktail
Receptions +
Pre-Receptions
The first glass of the evening, the first hug across the room. The foyer and courtyard set the tone before the doors even open.
Conference
Registration +
Catering Breaks
Step away from the room, refresh with good food, and return to the table ready. The foyer earns its place all day long.
Leavers Dinners +
Red Carpet Arrivals
The turning circle and courtyard create a proper arrival moment. One of the best things an event can give its guests is a great entrance.
Trade Exhibitions
+ Expo Displays
Seventeen trade tables in the foyer, vehicle and large-format displays in the courtyard. With exclusive hire, the whole arrival precinct becomes your exhibition floor.
Cocktail Events +
Standalone Functions
Foyer for 200, courtyard for 250. Open through to the café and Tamar Room and you have a flowing event space that moves and breathes with your guests.
Photo Booths +
Brand Activations
A natural gathering point and a high-traffic canvas for media walls, branded moments, and photo activations that people actually stop to use.
More than a
waiting room
By day there is a warmth and movement here that most venues have to work hard to create. People are arriving, leaving, catching up, grabbing coffee, spilling out into the courtyard. It is a living part of the building, not a lobby that sits empty between events.
By evening, festoon lights go up, fire pits come out, and the whole space shifts into something more social and unhurried. Guests arrive and linger rather than filing straight through. The conversations that end up mattering most at a conference or wedding often happen here, before the formalities begin.
With exclusive venue hire, the foyer and courtyard open up further. The flow extends through Jude’s Café and into the Tamar Room, giving you one seamless arrival and event precinct with room to move throughout the night.
Extendable Spaces
The foyer connects directly to Jude's Café, and the café's bi-fold wall opens through to the Tamar Room. With exclusive hire, it becomes one long, flowing arrival and event space. A lot of flexibility in a single footprint.
Fire Pits
Two fire pits are available in the courtyard, positioned wherever the evening calls for them. In winter they are essential. Year-round they become the spot where guests gather, drinks in hand, and never quite get around to leaving.
Conference Catering Hub
Rather than serving catering inside the conference room, we set up the foyer for morning tea, lunch, and afternoon breaks. Delegates move, stretch, and come back to the room with more in them. It's a small shift that makes a noticeable difference to the energy of a day.
Car & Turning Circle Access
The courtyard connects to the Tailrace turning circle, making it ideal for red carpet arrivals, vehicle showcases, and industry display events. Please notify the team on arrival when courtyard vehicle access is needed.
Configurations
and Capacity
The foyer and courtyard flex to suit the event. Use them together or independently, as a standalone cocktail space or as the arrival layer to a larger event inside.
Foyer - 17 Tables
Foyer – 200pax Courtyard – 250pax
Let's make it happen.
Tell us about your event and we’ll be in touch.
We’d love to invite you to come and see our spaces and show you around.
Fill out the enquiry form below or get in direct contact on
[email protected] or 03 6327 4538.