Stand types · Main guide
Stand types and which job each one suits
Lokman Türkoğlu · Founder & Head of Design · 2 min read · Last updated:
Short answer
Which stand type suits which job?
If you do one fair a year on a small space, a portable or modular system is enough. If you do three or more with the same layout, a modular system spreads the cost across shows. If your product is heavy, your display bespoke or your space an island, a custom timber build is unavoidable. A double-decker only makes sense when the footprint is tight, the need is meeting rooms and the organiser permits it. The order of the decision is this: annual fair count first, shape of the space second, budget last.
Three questions that separate the types
First: how many fairs a year. One fair means one layout; if there is no second use, paying for portability makes no sense. Three or more immediately pushes a system that can be dismantled and rebuilt to the front.
Second: the shape of the space. An in-line stand has one open side and the back wall carries everything. An island has four open sides and no back wall at all, which changes the layout completely. A corner sits between the two.
Third: the weight and height of the product. A half-tonne machine sets the floor platform and the structure directly. Our stand types page lists the load capacity of each type separately; telling us the product weight at quotation stage removes a revision before it happens.
The four main types
Custom timber. Every piece is made for that show. Form is free and display units are built around the product. The price is the highest unit cost and a storage problem afterwards.
Modular system. An aluminium profile frame with interchangeable panels and graphics. The first investment is close to timber, but at the second fair only the graphics are renewed. Form is limited by the profile grid.
Portable. Fits in a case and goes up in a few hours with two people. It works on small in-line stands and demonstration desks; above fifteen square metres it looks thin.
Double-decker. Doubles the usable area and puts meetings upstairs. It does not even come up for discussion without hall height, a structural calculation and the organiser’s permission.
The order of the decision
Do not start with the budget. Budget sets the quality level, not the type; the same money buys either a small timber stand or a large modular one. Buying the wrong type cheaply costs more than buying the right type dearly.
The order is this: write out your fair calendar for the year, add the floor area and number of open sides beside each show, and put the product’s physical requirement in a third column. The table names the type on its own. Three fairs at similar sizes point to a modular system; one at fifty and one at two hundred square metres will not sit on a single system.
Compare prices only after that table exists. Our pricing page sets out how the unit rate separates by type.
Can a modular stand look as good as timber?
Close, but not identical. In a modular system the corner details and panel joints follow the profile grid; in timber those joints can be hidden. The difference is invisible at three metres and visible at one.
Can we change the type later?
Before design approval, yes; after it, no. Once approved, the technical drawings, production plan and material orders are locked to the type, and a change restarts the process.