OCTANORM metal structures - how they changed the exhibition stand industry
Recently, it has been 55 years since the German entrepreneur and engineer Hans Steger presented his OCTANORM metal structures to the general public, which forever changed the exhibition market. Before this event, at world exhibitions and fairs, structures made of wood or metal, individual casting and stamping were used to build stands (mini-offices of participants). Now, in order to make a high-quality exhibition stand you can use a ready-made unique reusable construction set OCTANORM, which allows build stands of any configuration.
This invention made it possible to significantly reduce the time for preparing construction projects, as well as significantly reduce the cost of exhibition stands. Since the metal frame is easily disassembled after the event and, based on the principle of interchangeable elements, is reused hundreds of times.
What are OCTANORM metal structures and what else are they so loved by exhibition stand developers
In simple words, OCTANORM is a construction set consisting of different types of racks and crossbars, as well as elements for connecting them ( locks). These structures are made of high-quality aluminum with special additives, which makes them lightweight, but at the same time very durable, capable of withstanding heavy loads.
Photo: OCTANORM designs of the MAXIMA system
For their versatility, variability and ease of use, they are loved by exhibition stand developers. Now a design engineer can build an exhibition stand frame from OCTANORM in a few hours in ArchiCAD and select the appropriate materials for its cladding. Fortunately, these designs allow you to use a wide variety of materials when decorating exhibition stands: all kinds of plastics (acrylic, polycarbonate, PVC), wood materials (chipboard, OSB, MDF), fabrics, banners, and so on. There is already a high-quality, expert article on the Internet about this how to properly design exhibition stands, so we will not dwell on this in detail here.
There are several types of OCTANORM metal structures:
➢ MAXIMA - the most commonly used universal type of structure, which allows you to build exclusive exhibition stands with a unique design.
➢ DOUBLEFORM - a constructor that makes it possible to build multi-story stands for exhibitions.
➢ STRUKTUR - allows you to create a variety of functional and decorative display design forms, such as scenes or hanging structures.
➢ OCTAquick – used for quick installation of small exhibition stands.
➢ VARIO DISPLAY - used to create mobile exhibition stands
Use of OCTANORM structures in the construction of modern exhibition stands
Readers who often attend exhibition events may wonder if they are used Are these designs when building exhibition stands now? After all, modern exhibition stands look like sophisticated designer products that have little in common with the stand in the photograph in the table of contents of the article. Quite rightly, the modern design of exhibition stands has established the paradigm of completely hiding metal structures behind finishing materials and decorative elements. But we assure you that the overwhelming majority of exhibition stands are still based on OCTANORM structures as a load-bearing frame.
Even at international construction exhibitions, such as WorldBuild Kyiv, companies producing building materials and equipment that accurately understand the whole variety of structures, choose OCTANORM.
Photo: two-story exhibition stand built by KARSHE at the WorldBuild Kyiv construction exhibition
OCTANORM structures in Ukraine
Ukrainian exhibition companies and developers exhibition stands also actively use Octanorm in their work. Moreover, in Ukraine there is even the official representative of OCTANORM company KARSHE, whose office is located in Kyiv.
It is worth noting that domestic developers of exhibition stands have been very successful in their profession. Their stands often receive awards at international exhibitions for the best design. Some of them even represent their companies at the large-scale EuroShop event in Düsseldorf. And this is the generally recognized main industry exhibition in the world for trade and exhibition equipment.
In addition, among Ukrainian developers there are innovators in the use of OCTANORM. For example, the already mentioned company KARCHE was the first in the world to begin building three-story exhibition stands from these structures.
To summarize, we can