La Plateforme is a former oil barge which operated between Marseille and Lyon over a 30-year period before becoming, in 2005, one of Lyon’s trendiest event venues. Moored right in the heart of the city, on the Rhône’s left bank, it offers 600 m2 of space divided into four separate areas, with capacity for groups of up to 240 people for a seminar and 600 for a cocktail party. Welcome on board.
Launched in 1959, the oil barge La Pérouse spent 34 years transporting oil from Marseille to Lyon and Chalons-sur-Saône. Its work as an oil barge finished at the end of the 20th century, when Anthony Hawkins, creator of one of Lyon’s well-known night spots La Marquise, bought the vessel with the plan to turn it into a trendy events space. La Plateforme is moored right in the centre of the city, on the Rhône’s left bank, and it opened its doors for business in 2005. It has been busy ever since.
“We handle 13-15 events every month, averaging roughly 200 participants,” proclaims sales manager Caroline Alt. “Buisness tourism makes up about 90% of our activity consisting of seminars, conferences, cocktail buffet receptions and other business functions. Most events last a day. However, there are some, like the BMW roadshow held in March or the perfume launch for Hermès’ Voyage, which can last a whole week”. La Plateforme offers a space of 600 m2 divided into four separate areas. It has capacity for up to 240 people for a seminar and 600 people for a cocktail party.
“Our clientele is largely from the Rhône-Alpes area,” adds Caroline Alt. “However, we do also get calls from companies based in Paris or Belgium, partly because there are several Brussels-based events agencies which specialise in roadshows. In 2009, we didn’t really suffer too much from the recession. But negotiations on pricing were often pretty tight. For 2010, our business has started off well again and whilst April was relatively quiet, May and June are shaping up to be very good. Our schedules are already booking up for September, October and November”. New for this year is the opening of the reception terrace all year round, thank to the installation of a telescopic cover. 
“It can be put up in just 15 minutes, and we’re finding that it’s increasingly popular with clients,” notes the sales manager, who also points out “the combination of a beautiful space and capacity. It’s not the usual type of venue, so clients sometimes find it difficult to imagine the space”.
Specialising in tailor-made events, the barge can be hired for 3600 € ex VAT for a 24-hour period. Three caterers are recommended by the management: Serge Magner, La Fine Fourchette and Declerck.
It is worth taking note of the fact that during July and August, when business tourism is traditionally very quiet, La Plateforme becomes a club and restaurant. It also operates as a venue for evening events that are part of the Lyon Lumière film festival, the second edition of which takes place from 4 to 10 October.
La Plateforme, in Lyon (RhĂ´ne)
Tel.: 00 33 (0)4 37 40 13 93
