Location: 324 Blackwell St. #700, Durham, NC 27701 Capacity: 70 to 400 guests Type: Urban Industrial Website: bay7.events
Bay 7 sits inside the Washington Building on the American Tobacco Campus in downtown Durham, directly beside the Lucky Strike Tower. The American Tobacco Historic District occupies the brick and timber factory buildings the Duke family's tobacco business put up through downtown Durham, and Bay 7 is one of them. Bay 7 itself is a single open room of 10,000 square feet, built out with exposed brick walls, hardwood floors and steel girders left open overhead.
A wrap-around balcony runs above the main floor, and panoramic windows bring in daylight for a portion of the day. One room holds 70 to 400 guests, which means the same room can hold a rehearsal dinner or a reception at full scale depending on how it is set. The American Tobacco Campus around it is a working mix of offices, restaurants, and retail, two blocks from the Durham Performing Arts Center and the Durham Bulls' ballpark.
The Room
The floor is open enough to reconfigure for ceremony, dinner, and dancing without moving guests between spaces. Brick walls run the length of the room on at least one side, the steel girders overhead are the building's working frame, and the hardwood floor is handsome as it stands. The balcony above gives a second sightline over the room, useful for a band, a photographer, or guests who want to watch the floor from above.
The Kitchen
The Angus Barn is the exclusive caterer for every event at Bay 7. Dinner is offered as a station setup, a plated dinner, or a cocktail-style menu of passed food. Because the kitchen is fixed, the room's decor, tables, chairs, linens, glassware, china, and non-floral centerpieces come with the booking as part of the same package, along with the existing lighting and audio-visual equipment already installed in the space.
What We Design Here
This is a room built from three honest materials, brick, wood, and steel, and it holds saturated color and real scale without getting busy. Deep, warm tones hold their ground against the brick, and pale, quiet palettes pick up contrast from the dark girders overhead. Height works here. The ceiling and balcony give arrangements room to rise, and the girders and brick supply all the ornament the room needs. We lean on texture here, in step with the brick, wood and steel around it. Because the windows bring in daylight for a portion of the day and the room runs on its own fixtures after dark, we plan color to hold under both, especially anything meant to read well by early evening.
Practical
Bay 7 is in downtown Durham on the American Tobacco Campus, two blocks from the Durham Performing Arts Center and the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, with Duke University and downtown hotels nearby. Guest counts must be finalized 15 days before a wedding and 7 days before any other event. Booking and availability go through the venue directly by phone at 919-278-2713 or through its online inquiry form.
Hidden Door Floral Studio is a Raleigh wedding florist designing for weddings across Raleigh, the Triangle and North Carolina, and happy to travel beyond. To talk about your wedding at Bay 7 at American Tobacco, schedule a consultation.
Need flowers there today? See same-day flower delivery in Durham.