Stand types
When a custom timber stand is the right call
Lokman Türkoğlu · Founder & Head of Design · 2 min read · Last updated:
Short answer
When is a custom timber stand the right choice?
In three situations. When the product is heavy or large, because timber structure and platform are calculated for the load you actually have. When the display cannot be solved with standard shelving and cases, because every unit is built around that product. When the space is an island or an awkward shape, because you are not tied to a system’s profile grid. Against that, a timber stand is largely unusable after the show, so for a company doing three fairs a year the cost does not fall per show.
What free form costs
The one real advantage of a timber stand is that it carries no dimensional constraint. A wall can be two metres twenty or three metres forty; curves, steps, recessed niches, an asymmetric ceiling — if it can be drawn it can be made. In a modular system each of those is rounded to the profile grid.
The cost shows up in three places. Production takes longer, because every part is made once and has no prototype. The site build takes longer, because parts are joined in position and need touching up. After the show most parts are damaged in the strip-out; reuse is usually limited to furniture and display cases.
Decided with those three known in advance, a timber stand is not expensive but correctly priced. Our stand design page sets out the steps from drawing to production.
Heavy exhibits and the platform
Machinery, generators and workbenches usually make timber compulsory. The reason is structural, not aesthetic. Platform joists are sized for the point load, reinforcement goes under the footprint, and cable and air lines run inside the floor.
Modular system podiums are built for a stated distributed load. Putting a one-and-a-half-tonne machine on one, without the manufacturer signing it off, transfers the risk to you. Organisers also publish a floor loading limit per hall; the lower of the two limits applies.
Share the weight and footprint when you ask for a quote. Learning the load afterwards means redrawing a stand that has already been drawn.
When it is the wrong call
If you do three or more fairs a year at similar sizes, a timber stand means starting the cost from zero every time. A modular system bought with the same money leaves only graphics and freight from the second show onwards.
Abroad, freight volume also moves the decision. Timber parts are bulky and fill most of a trailer; the same stand can travel in half the space as a modular system. On a distant fair the freight difference can close the gap between types.
Then there is the calendar. Timber does not tolerate a late design approval; workshop queue and drying times cannot be compressed. If the design is still being argued six weeks out, timber is not the answer.
Can a timber stand be used at a second fair?
Partly. Display cases, counters, furniture and some wall panels travel. The structure and floor platform rarely fit the dimensions of the next space.
Which panel is used in a timber stand?
It depends on the surface: MDF for painted faces, plywood where load is carried, melamine board for faced surfaces. The venue’s required fire class narrows the choice.
Sources
- Venue technical regulations — Messe Frankfurt
- German trade fair industry association — AUMA
- Chamber of Architects of Turkey — TMMOB Mimarlar Odası