A two-storey floating deck with room for 550 people will be moored in Docklands this spring and summer after the City of Melbourne green-lit the city’s first floating open-air club and event space.
Called Atet, the deck is modelled on the European day clubs of Mykonos, Ibiza and Berlin, and will be a hub for electronic music. Built on the repurposed Alma Doepel barge, the 570-square-metre space will have an expansive open deck with a smaller mezzanine level above, two bars and a kitchen. It’ll have a geometric frame structure lined with LED lighting, which will be used to create an ambient sensory experience. When the weather turns, the deck can be enclosed by clear PVC.
Atet will be docked in Docklands for 12 months, on North Wharf beneath the Bolte Bridge towers, and will offer views of Melbourne’s skyline across Victoria Harbour. It’s mobile, and organisers say there are plans for the deck to be moved for future events at Port Phillip Bay.
Broadsheet Access members get special tables at busy restaurants, tickets to exclusive events and discounts on food, coffee, brand offers and more.
Find out more“Atet is more than just a bar on water – we are channelling the open-air day party experience of festivals and day clubs around Europe and providing it on a regular basis in the heart of Melbourne,” says Jake Hughes, who’s behind Atet, in a statement. “There is a sense of freedom induced by this environment that can’t be replicated indoors.”
Hughes, who is a DJ, says Atet gets its name from a solar barge used by the sun god Ra in ancient Egyptian mythology. Ra would travel through the sky on the barge and provide light to the world.
Organisers say there will be a bus operating at the end of the night to transport people back to the city or to Southern Cross Station.
Atet is slated to open in spring.
