How to Design Your Exhibition Hall Layout & Traffic Flows
It is a huge challenge to plan an exhibition hall layout, weighing all factors and needs together. There is pressure to maximise the number of booths without compromising traffic flows, while also providing a great experience for both attendees and exhibitors. Because every venue is different, like every event, an exhibition layout template is not going to solve the logistical problem. In this article, we share our step-by-step process for designing a functional and intuitive exhibition hall layout.
1. Put it on Paper
On average, trade show budgets are around 3x – 4x the cost of your venue hire.
So if the venue hire cost for the duration is £10,000, the total budget should be £30,000 – £40,000. These proportions can set the standard for the rest of your budget.
Start with a blank plan of the empty hall & visualise your event within. You can usually ask your venue for PDF floorplans of the event spaces to build on.
Venue Considerations
Before you start thinking about your trade show layout, mark key venue details on your plan. These should include:
- Fire Exits, Fire Extinguishers & Fire Lanes to keep clear
- Electrical Supply Points
- Limiting Factors, such as pillars, low ceilings or loading bay doors
Mark straight lines from exits across the space to show lines of sight to keep clear in case of evacuation. Your venue may also stipulate minimum widths for aisles for safety reasons. Make a note of these clearly on your plan to remind you.
Electrical supply points may include floor boxes, pillars or walls. These are crucial for powering most exhibition stands and providing exhibitor services such as laptop charging. Marking them clearly on your floor plan helps shell scheme contractors to plan their build and cabling for stand supply.
Pillars and blockages will impact how you design your exhibition hall floor plan. It’s better to have them marked clearly at the start than to have to adjust the design later, or worse, disappoint exhibitors.
2. Sketch General Areas on Your Exhibition Floorplan
Now that you have a view of the immovable objects, you can start to visualise your exhibition hall layout. Sketch out the different zones you’ll need, including catering, seating and feature spaces, and industry-specific areas.
Entrance & Exit
Where will most visitors arrive & leave by? Make entrances wide and welcoming to give a good first impression. Include reception desks, a cloakroom area and a clear flow into the exhibition hall.
Exits are often in the same area as the entrance, but some venues may prefer a one-way system. Make sure exits are equally wide to avoid bottlenecks when the exhibition ends.
Catering
If you’re serving food, mark out catering areas. It’s a good idea to position multiple stations for Tea & Coffee between zones, as these create opportunities for impromptu networking and natural connections. Whether these are networking cafes or small coffee stands is up to your budget.
Larger cafeteria areas may be designated for you by the venue, and will require more space, seating and tables.
Seating Areas
It’s a good idea to provide places for people to sit in the hall, as this keeps them in the hall when they need a break. Seating areas among the exhibition stands allow opportunities for premium exhibition spaces, as those closest to the seating will be visible over a longer period.
Feature Areas
Add value for your attendees by creating demo areas, lounges and seminar theatres with seating and temporary walling. Even if you only have one exhibition hall, dedicating an area to knowledge sharing can provide a more varied and educational experience that keeps companies returning year on year.
Toilets
Mark all toilet facilities on the floorplan, including accessible toilets. This makes sure they are easy to find and can help you assign the nearest booths should exhibitors request closer accessibility.
3. Consider Exhibitor Spaces
The most valuable stands are near the entrance, the centre of the hall, and near catering and seating areas.
Those nearest the entrance are the first stands people see when they walk in. They are seen by fresh eyes and visitors who haven’t been overloaded with information already, so they generally get the most leads, especially if their stands are eye-catching.
The centre is an attractive area, as these spaces have the most presence along a circular pathway. Many visitors tend to drift towards the centre of the exhibition hall, seeking continued engagement rather than the dead ends presented by the edges.
You should also designate which areas will use a shell scheme and which will be ‘space only’ stands at this point. This will help you create a pricing structure for the various stands and sizes available.
Problem areas
Just as there are clear advantages to certain areas, there are other areas that suffer based on their position in the room. Avoid placing any stands facing walls or in low-light areas. Corners are best reserved for seating or catering, to provide all exhibitors with a reasonable opportunity to engage attendees.
If these areas are unavoidable, a discounted rate can support smaller businesses to put their name on a stand and generate some leads, even if their opportunity is limited.
Grouping Exhibitors by Type/Sector
If your trade show spans multiple sectors, it may be worth grouping exhibitors into zones based on their type. For example, an environmental business summit may have designated areas for power sources, recyclable materials and biodiversity. This helps attendees navigate to the most relevant stands easily and creates opportunities for collaboration between exhibitors.
Physically separate zones with temporary walls or use coloured signage to create visual boundaries.
4. The 50:50 rule
As seasoned professionals, we keep a key rule when designing exhibition hall layouts: only half of the hall space should be filled by stands. The other half is left as open space & gangways.
Following the 50:50 rule keeps your trade show from becoming crowded or uncomfortable. It also helps maintain fire safety and accessibility. While you may be tempted to squeeze a few extra stands in, the risks presented by narrow gangways or blocked fire exits are greater than you may imagine.
5. Work Out your Traffic Flow
The traffic flow is the way people move around the exhibition hall. The layout dictates this by creating open spaces, corridors and pathways.
Consider how you want people to experience the exhibition.
Is there a ‘journey’ you want to take them on? For example, you might want to present mind-opening, futuristic opportunities at the outset, before considering suppliers that can help them integrate new technologies, and finish with services that can scale their businesses effectively.
Create pathways through each zone that lead logically into the next.
How can you encourage them to visit all areas & see every stand?
Exhibition hall layouts sometimes follow letter-shaped patterns to make the most of the space.
- ‘H’ shape: two long gangways with a shorter path joining them in the middle
- ‘S’ shape: encourages a meandering path through the stands from start to finish
- ‘U’ shape: two long gangways with a path at one end, a straightforward path.
Or you could choose a simple grid, with groups of stands separated by straight paths in both directions.
If you have multiple zones to plan for, ensure there are direct routes between them as well as engaging routes that lead people to all areas within the zone.
Other Tips for Exhibition Hall Layouts
Use Catering and feature areas to draw people to neglected spaces, such as corners away from doors or side rooms.
Avoid bottlenecks around popular areas by planning more space and wider gangways.
Print Clear floor plans to display or hand out. This will help attendees navigate your exhibition and plan their routes based on interest.
Choose Suppliers that Offer Exhibition Layout Planning
Exhibition hall layouts have a big impact on the experience of your trade show event for both attendees and exhibitors. As exhibition suppliers, LION Exhibitions have plenty of experience creating functional exhibition hall layouts that manage foot traffic, highlight feature areas and produce an excellent experience.
While this article shares some key considerations for designing exhibition hall layouts, collaborating with your venue and contractors can help make detailed, actionable plans. This makes the most of suppliers’ knowledge and experience.
Choose shell scheme suppliers that offer free exhibition layout planning as part of their services.
