Ringwood nightclubs: Void ‘superclub’ opens at old Orange Whip site

The manager of a popular city nightclub has expanded into the outer east, and he‘s promising a Las Vegas-style clubbing experience in Ringwood. Come inside.

Bright lights, a Las Vegas-styled ‘superclub’ experience and tasty pizzas are being promised at the outer east’s newest nightspot.

Void has opened at the home of the former Orange Whip nightclub on Maroondah Highway in Ringwood, spearheaded by director Daniel Lamanna, who also manages the popular Cloud Nine nightclub in the CBD.

The venue held its first events over the past fortnight and is hosting over-28s nights on Fridays and a main club night on Saturdays.

Orange Whip was a casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic and closed for good in mid-2021 after 14 years of trading.

Mr Lamanna and his team took over the site in August and has given the 620-capacity club an estimated $2m refurb, which boasts a massive triangular lights structure above the dancefloor.

There are also purple neon lights throughout the venue, LED screens around the DJ decks, cheeky signs in the toilets, and an intimate smaller bar and dancefloor at the back.

“Pretty much from August up until two weeks ago, we’ve been renovating the whole time,” Mr Lamanna said.

“It’s been a crazy little project, it’s been a blown my mind away what we’ve done here, and it’s pretty exciting to see what the future holds.”

Mr Lamanna said he wanted to replicate ‘superclub’ experiences from overseas and save clubbers a costly trip into the city with the new venue.

“It’s creating a vibe not many people would experience in other nightclubs, something in Las Vegas or overseas, bringing it here to the burbs and keeping it local,” he said.

“I don’t think there’s anything in Melbourne that has this kind of architecture and creativity.

“There’s a futuristic vibe, and the main thing is bringing what people would travel 40 minutes to the city for, to here, and you can keep that $100 from the Uber ride to the city.”

Mr Lamanna said the club would cater for fans of “all sorts of music” including house, party anthems, RnB, commercial EDM and “minimal and harder stuff”.

Away from the beats, foodies will also be catered for at the venue, with a rooftop wood-fired pizza restaurant and cocktail bar, Boujee, set to open in late May.

The space will feature a retractable roof and offer pizzas made by chain ZeroNineFive.

Void’s arrival has completed the regeneration of Ringwood’s Maroondah Highway clubbing strip, which also includes Baby and The Bungalow at the old Club Dakota site, and the longstanding ZuBar.

Mr Lamanna said he was excited for the strip’s future, as he felt his venue and its neighbours would offer plenty of choice for local partygoers depending on their interests.

“Each one of us provide a different experience for each punter … and I’m glad we can bring a crowd here and keep everyone happy, so they don’t have to go to the city,” he said.

Entry to the main club night on Saturdays is listed at $20-$25, while the over-28’s night has been promoting big giveaways including a $5000 prize for one lucky clubber at this Friday night’s event.