Maidstone Innovation Centre - February 2022 Venue of the Month

Our February Venue of the Month is Maidstone Innovation Centre, a state-of-the-art building with impressive architectural design, modern facilities and a flexible event space that is situated in an area of outstanding beauty. From conferences and seminars to training events and team meetings, the venue has everything you need for a successful event. Discover more about the venue below, with details on the Centre’s specialties, features, facilities and more.

The Design and Features of the Venue

Maidstone Innovation Centre Exterior The Centre officially opened in March 2022 and is a four storey, 37,000 square feet building that has been designed to create a workspace that promotes pride, energy, creativity and collaboration. The venue was built with wellbeing in mind, and this is reflected in the architecture of the building. The space is light and open with wonderful views of the surrounding countryside. The venue was also built using many locally sourced building materials including the Kentish ragstone which was quarried in Aylesford, with this being an impressive feature of the building.

Maidstone Innovation Centre Living Wall The Centre has planted a stunning ‘living wall’ as part of Great Big Green, which is one of the building’s green features, and comprises more than 10,000 plants. Covering 90.5 square metres, the wall will help to reduce the carbon footprint of the building by keeping it cooler in summer and warmer in winter. It will also act as a natural sound insulator, and oxygen released by the plants will assist with air purification. A stunning focal point, the wall incorporates a range of species indigenous to the local area, which will bloom all year round, attracting bees and butterflies.

In addition to the stunning design of the building, the venue has everything you need for a successful corporate event, including audio-visual equipment, spacious meeting & seminar rooms, onsite catering options and a professional team of staff.

Maidstone Innovation Centre is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund 2014-2020.

Holding an Event at Maidstone Innovation Centre

Seminar Room at Maidstone Innovation Centre The venue has vast experience in hosing a range of corporate events including training days, large team meetings and board meetings. Due to the flexibility of the rooms, they can accommodate various types and sizes of events, from launches and presentations to workshops and classroom training.

The venue offers a range of layout options for their seminar rooms which can be rearranged for your preferred event style such as boardrooms, classrooms and theatres and they are also flexible with requests. The Conference rooms benefit from being next to the Centre’s roof terrace with scenic countryside views and the breakout space, which includes a Maidstone Innovation Centre Terrace bean to cup coffee machine for bookers to use. Bottomless tea and coffee are provided at every event and there are catering options available to add onto your booking.

The 2 seminar rooms can be opened up to create an even larger space allowing the venue to accommodate the range of different events of varying size. Bookers can make use of the informal breakout areas and the outside furnished Terrance. The campus is ideally located within 30 acres of landscaped grounds, surrounded by ancient woodland, creating stunning views for delegates to enjoy.

Technical Equipment

The venue has 55” 4K screens with content sharing options in both seminar rooms and benefits from an on-site IT team. Wi-Fi is available throughout the building and wired internet is also accessible in all areas.

Find out more about Maidstone Innovation Centre by clicking here.

Tackling Climate Change

Environmental impact was heavily factored into the Centre’s build. To tackle climate change, the Centre has 8 Electrical Car Charging points, solar panels and a very impressive green wall which keeps the building warm in winter and cool in the summer. It also has a smart building management system which monitors the building and turns off power consuming elements when it senses that parts of the building are empty which helps cut down on energy wastage.

Accessibility

The centre has two lifts and disabled toilets located on every floor as well as six evacuation chairs to ensure safety in the event of a fire. There is also a hearing loop located at reception and in the seminar rooms.

How to get there?

Maidstone Innovation Centre offers excellent access to the UK’s extensive motorway network, being located on Junction 7 of the M20, which in turn leads to the M25, M2 and the rest of the UK.

Bus service is available from Maidstone Town Centre and Bearsted Train Station is nearby with access to London Victoria and Ashford International.

Exciting Upcoming Projects

The venue is excited to work with their business partners to provide a range of business support events including topics such as bespoke technology, cyber safety, and networking. They also have their South-East Innovation programme, which is a workshop for businesses to help enable them to have the tools to be able to raise investment for their business or a new product.

The centre has a new events page on their website, and they are looking forward to filling it with events that will benefit businesses in Maidstone and beyond! You can view the new events page by clicking here.

Special Offers

The venue currently has an offer for businesses to have one free hot desk day at the Centre, allowing them to use the facilities for free. With bottomless tea and coffee and stunning views to look out to, it is a perfect environment to work in.