Stand design
Floor plans: where visitors enter and stop
Lokman Türkoğlu · Founder & Head of Design · 2 min read · Last updated:
Short answer
How is a stand floor plan laid out?
A floor plan is built from four zones. The entry zone stays open so a visitor can step in without feeling a threshold. The stopping zone sits just past the entry and holds the exhibit that draws attention. The meeting zone goes deep into the stand, away from aisle noise. Storage and services go right at the back, out of sight from the open side. Until these four are placed, no decision about material, colour or graphics is worth making.
Read the aisle before drawing
Visitors do not arrive at random. The main entrance, registration desks, toilets, catering points and the position of the large exhibitors all shape the flow. Reading the hall plan and working out which direction the crowd comes from is the first step of any layout.
Once the direction is clear, so is the entry zone. The corner facing the incoming flow stays open: no showcase, no counter, no planter. The commonest mistake is closing that opening with a tall reception desk placed at the front.
The face looking at the opposite aisle has one job only: making the company name readable from a distance. Give that surface over to product display and you lose both the product and the name.
The stopping point and the meeting area
Once inside, a visitor has to stop somewhere. The stopping point sits a few steps past the entry, in a position where they can look without turning their back on the aisle. Put the most self-explanatory product there, or something that runs. A literature rack is not a stopping point; nobody stops for a brochure.
The meeting area, by contrast, needs protection. Someone seated at a table open to the aisle feels on display and cuts the conversation short. A half wall, a raised floor or simply pushing the table back removes that feeling.
The number of tables is set by the team, not by the floor area. Four sales people on site are not served by two tables. Under our exhibition stand services we work that balance out at brief stage.
Allocate the invisible metres first
Storage, the fridge, the distribution board, waste, coats and empty boxes go into the plan first, not last. Left to the end there is no room for them, and during the show a corner of the meeting area turns into a store.
The store door should not face the aisle, but it must be reachable by the people working the stand. A store you can only enter by walking behind the meeting table interrupts conversations all day.
The same logic covers services. If screen cabling, sockets, the network point and any water supply are not positioned early, cables end up running across the floor. Every cable not taken under the floor is both an appearance and a safety problem. Which is why the choice between a cable channel and a raised platform is answered before the floor finish is picked.
Is a counter at the front of the stand wrong?
Not wrong, but the position matters. Set beside the entry and perpendicular to the flow it becomes a welcome point; set in the middle of the opening it becomes a barrier.
Does a small stand need a meeting area?
A high table and two stools serve most small stands. Standing conversations are shorter, which on a small stand is an advantage.
Sources
- German trade fair industry association — AUMA
- Exhibitor information — Koelnmesse
- Fair and Congress Center — Tüyap