Motive Exhibitions shares what heating, cooling, water, and energy brands should focus on when planning their exhibition stand for elementalLONDON 2026 at ExCeL London, covering stand objectives, audience, interactive elements, and the briefing process. elementalLONDON 2026, incorporating CIBSE Build2Perform and co-located with London Build, takes place 25-26 November 2026 at ExCeL London and is expected to attract 25,000+ built-environment and construction professionals.
elementalLONDON launched at ExCeL London in November 2025 with around 4,000 built-environment professionals and 200+ exhibitors – expectation was high on the success and reputation of InstallerSHOW. For 2026 it’s ramping up: elementalLONDON, incorporating CIBSE Build2Perform and co-located with London Build, is expected to attract 25,000+ built-environment and construction professionals at ExCeL London on 25-26 November.
We built exhibition stands for Danfoss and Mixergy at that first show. Here’s what we saw, what we built, and what’s worth thinking about if you’re planning to exhibit in 2026.
A show built around energy efficiency and decarbonisation
elementalLONDON is organised by the same team behind InstallerSHOW, and you can tell – it’s tight, well-run, and the audience know what they’re getting. Building services engineers, facilities managers, mechanical and electrical contractors, architects, designers, developers, local authorities, house builders and housing associations – all with a specific requirement and buying intent.
Billed as the UK’s most comprehensive event for construction, building services and sustainability, the co-location with London Build in 2026 brings in the wider construction audience too – but the core elementalLONDON crowd, heating, cooling, water, and energy, are exactly the people you want in front of you if that’s your market.
Be clear on what you need the stand to do
Before you think about design, think about purpose. Are you launching a product? Running demos? Getting in front of specifiers you can’t normally reach? Filling your pipeline for 2027 and beyond?
“Think about how people will process your exhibition stand in a few seconds. No one is going to stop in a busy gangway and read reams of text, over talking to a team member.”
Edward Marshall, Creative Director, Motive Exhibitions
Think about the different types of visitor you’ll get. Someone browsing the floor needs to be stopped in their tracks by what they see at a distance. A procurement lead who’s come specifically to see you needs somewhere to sit down and have a decent conversation away from the gangway. Those are two different design problems, and a well-zoned exhibition stand solves both without feeling cluttered.
“Think about what you want the exhibition stand to be doing and what you want your visitors to think and remember, then work with your exhibition designers to turn that into a stand reality.”
Edward Marshall, Creative Director, Motive Exhibitions
Making the most of ExCeL London
ExCeL is a big venue and floor position matters. Exhibition stands near the seminar stages pick up footfall between sessions. Stands near the coffee and catering areas catch visitors when they’ve got a moment to stop. If you end up in a quieter corner, lighting does more work than you might think – a well-lit exhibition stand draws people in from the far end of an aisle in a way graphics alone won’t.
Space-only plots at ExCeL can build to 6 metres, and suspended branding rigged from the ceiling is an option if you want to be visible from across the hall – though it adds cost. Rigged branding can act as a wayfinder in the venue and beyond.
Find out more about exhibiting at ExCeL London.
If your product is hard to demonstrate
A lot of brands at elementalLONDON are selling something you can’t pick up and hand to someone – building management software, energy monitoring platforms or system controls, for example. The temptation is to explain everything the product does.
“You can’t just tell people what your product does; you need to show them why it matters,” says Edward Marshall, Creative Director, Motive Exhibitions. “We’ve worked with plenty of technology clients on this – using video walls, interactive touchpoints, VR, physical models – to make complex systems real and understandable for visitors who you might only have for a few minutes.”
Lead with the outcome, not the spec. Show someone what life looks like with your product in it. Get them curious enough to have a conversation.
We’ve written more about this in our guide to winning strategies for technical exhibitors.
A demo that nobody can see from the gangway is a missed opportunity. At a show like elementalLondon, you’ve got seconds. Position matters as much as the demonstration itself.”
David Hennessy, Motive Exhibitions, Managing Director
Give people a reason to stop
It doesn’t have to be a product demo. We’ve built exhibition stands with milkshake bars, ice cream stations, and simple giveaways that had queues forming in the gangway. Someone walking around in a costume linked to your brand, or an activation that gives your team a natural way into a conversation, works better than a sales pitch every time. Mixergy hand out branded merch. At InstallerSHOW 2025, Danfoss tapped into something different altogether – nostalgia and emotion – with a DeLorean on the stand.
Whatever you choose, it should fit your brand and give your staff something to work with and ideally be memorable and fun.
Read Danfoss Marketing Specialist Gareth’s take on how to make your exhibition stand stand out.
Sort the brief before you do anything else
A good brief is worth its weight in gold. The exhibitors who get the best results aren’t always the ones with the biggest exhibition stands – they’re the ones who were clearest about what they needed before they started.
“We spend time at the start of every project understanding what a client needs. If we need to go and look at the products they’re featuring, then we will. Exhibition stands are designed collaboratively – we’ll often go through and edit elements and suggest ideas in real time, so that we get a design the client is 100% part of, rather than an off-the-shelf design they might get elsewhere,” says Edward Marshall, Creative Director, Motive Exhibitions.
Practical things that need to be in the brief early: exhibition stand size and whether it’s shell scheme or space only, power requirements if you’re running demos or offering refreshments, any compliance or health and safety considerations, and storage – you’ll need somewhere on the stand to keep kit, bags, and stock that isn’t on show. “We do this for our clients to take the stress of the paperwork away – we know what the organisers expect and the lingo that goes with it.” says Edward.
Download our free exhibition stand briefing guide before you start talking to exhibition stand builders.
Our aim is to deliver a stand that performs and delivers results, looks great and is on budget.”
Edward Marshall, Creative Director, Motive Exhibitions
What’s my advice? First, know your audience. Nostalgia is a powerful tool, and a trip down memory lane is a fantastic way to foster engagement. From there, don’t be afraid to fully commit to a creative theme. If you can create an immersive story and get your own team genuinely excited, you’ll build a stand people truly want to visit”
Gareth Ash, Marketing Specialist, Danfoss
What we built at elementalLondon 2025
Danfoss went with a rooftop garden theme – an L-shaped 5m x 5m hybrid build that mixed modular stand framework with custom elements including a canopy, planters with live plants, and a coffee station that drew visitors onto the stand throughout both days.
“You produced yet another great stand for us to tell our story from.”
UK Marketing Communications Manager, Danfoss
For Mixergy we delivered a 5m x 4m L-shaped exhibition stand using hired modular framework, with a custom-made LED house centrepiece, product and display plinths showcasing their tanks, and hired A/V, monitors, and furniture. As a Made in Britain member, every exhibition stand we build is manufactured in our own facility in St Neots
“Motive are a super team to work with and took away so much of the stress and hassle that events can sometimes bring! We definitely recommend them!”
Marketing Director, Mixergy
Ready to make elementalLONDON 2026 your best show yet?
If you’re looking to work with the best exhibition stand contractors for elementalLONDON, we recommend engaging with your exhibition stand builder 4-6 months out – longer for bigger stands.
Motive Exhibitions designs and builds exhibition stands for construction, manufacturing, and built-environment brands across the UK and Europe, including at elementalLONDON. If you want to talk through your plans for elementalLONDON 2026, get in touch with the team at Motive Exhibitions or visit our elementalLONDON exhibition guide.
We’re already planning exhibition stands for elementalLONDON 2026. Will yours be one of them?
Motive Exhibitions, 3 Orion Court, Ambuscade Road, Colmworth Business Park, Eaton Socon, St. Neots, PE19 8YX
