Ballast room, max. 54
Ballast, once used to stabilize ships, lends its name to our only auditorium-style event space: the Ballast Room. This impressive venue is ideal for seminars, training days, and performing arts.
This tall, vaulted space offers a memorable setting for a variety of events. Originally renovated for its current use in 1993, the venue underwent a complete refurbishment in 2021. The auditorium features 54 seats arranged in gently elevated rows. The hall and the adjacent coffee kitchenette form a continuous, open space.
In a nutshell
- Av-equipment: Video projector, projection screen, wireless microphone, and internet connection (WLAN)
- Equipment: The auditorium seats 54 people and tables and chairs for 20. It is equipped with a coffee set, coat racks, and two entrances—one of which has a ramp providing direct access to the hall. Please check the list of included furniture and equipment for more details on what is covered in the rental price.
- Prices: from 450 €
The construction work in the eastern wing of the Ehrensvärd Crownwork began in 1776. By 1786, the building was ready for use. The cellar contained storages and a ballast room, which is what the name Paarlastihuone means. A sail-making shop and rigging shop used to operate on the ground floor and first floor. The mansard floor used to house a model room for ships as well as workrooms for the naval architect. The north end was reserved for apartments.
At the outset of the Russian era, the building was still used by the navy, for instance, as a storage and working room as well as officers’ apartments. A Russian Orthodox church was located in the middle part of the building, probably on the second floor, at the beginning of the 1800s. The building was badly damaged during the bombardments of the Crimean War in 1855. The next year, the topmost one and a half floors were demolished and the building received its current look. The building remained in residential use until the end of the 1980s. Today, the office of the Governing Body of Suomenlinna is located on the upper floors.