Team events in Hamburg: what we've already built for companies here

Brain2Canvas is a brand of Restless UG and is based in Hamburg. It's the city our crew calls home, and the city where we've covered the largest single surface so far: 900 square metres of office space at BAT, turned into a neon club in five days by six artists. For Toyota, a date with influencers ran in a photo studio in Ottensen, working on canvases. For Rapid Data, a team event with 120 people ran in Jupiter at Central Station, the former Karstadt Sport department store. In HafenCity, 80 people worked with free-form Action Painting. For HANSAINVEST, we set up a graffiti wall and Action Painting station on the pier of the MS Bleichen. EY trainees closed out their seminar day on a rooftop terrace facing the Elbphilharmonie. Beiersdorf and TikTok are on the list too.

This page is for you if you're planning a team event, a company celebration, or a Christmas party in Hamburg. We tell six of these projects in full. Below them are the questions a planner settles before saying yes, each with the Hamburg proof point.

Which companies in Hamburg have already booked a team event with you?

In Hamburg, we've worked for seven companies we can name: BAT, Toyota, Rapid Data, HANSAINVEST, EY, Beiersdorf and TikTok. On top of that, there's one corporate team event in HafenCity whose client isn't named. At BAT, 900 square metres of office space became a neon club in five days. For Toyota, influencers worked on their own canvases in a photo studio in Ottensen. For Rapid Data, 120 people sprayed in small groups in Jupiter at Central Station. In HafenCity, 80 people painted freely, in a cruise terminal with a view of the Elbe. For HANSAINVEST, the graffiti wall stood on the pier of an old museum ship; for EY, on a rooftop terrace facing the Elbphilharmonie.

We name the remaining three with what's documented, without embellishment. TikTok booked an urban art activation with street-art vibes as a brand moment; Beiersdorf a graffiti team-building session, where creativity was used as a method for stronger collaboration.

What's interesting is the range: from multi-day space transformations to studio dates with canvases. All from the same hand.

What does a creative team event really give the team?

It changes the room the team sits in every day. At BAT in Hamburg, guests didn't recognise their own office when they walked in, because walls and ceilings had been painted black and covered in logos, slogans and neon strips.

That's the part you can explain to leadership without talking about fun. An evening at a rented venue is over by the next morning. A surface a team worked on themselves, or one that was transformed for the team, is still there afterwards and gets remarked on by every visitor. At HANSAINVEST it was the same principle on a smaller scale: different pieces, made in one day, visible afterwards. Impact here doesn't come from the experience alone, but from what stays in the building and still sparks conversations weeks later.

Which format fits our occasion in Hamburg?

That depends on whether your date is indoors or outdoors and how large the group is. A graffiti workshop with us always happens outdoors on a real wall and is planned for 10 to 1,000 people. Action Painting works indoors and outdoors, for 15 to 500 people.

Hamburg shows five approaches many planners don't have on their radar. Turning your own space into the event space instead of renting a venue, like at BAT. Working on canvas indoors instead of on a wall outdoors, like in the Ottensen studio for Toyota. Splitting a large group into small groups, each with their own surface, like the 120 from Rapid Data. Letting people work freely with no set motif, like the 80 people in HafenCity. Or bringing the surface to a special venue, like the pier of the MS Bleichen. For a date in the cold season, Action Painting is the way to go, because it works just as well on an indoor surface. Both workshop formats take 2 to 3 hours, flexible in flow.

The Hamburg projects

Urban MarketingBAT

Neon Afterwork Party

A 900 m² office turned into a glowing neon club in five days.View case FotoproduktionToyota

Photo Studio Hamburg

Action Painting and graffiti on canvas in a photo studio in Hamburg-Ottensen.View case TeambuildingRapid Data

Jupiter Hamburg

120 people spraying in small groups in Jupiter at Central Station.View case EventsCorporate team event

HafenCity Hamburg

80 people, free-form Action Painting with an Elbe view in a cruise terminal.View case GraffitiHANSAINVEST

MS Bleichen Hamburg

Graffiti wall and Action Painting station on the pier of an old museum ship.View case TeambuildingEY

Rooftop Terrace HafenCity

Seminar-day finale with graffiti on a rooftop terrace facing the Elbphilharmonie.View case