What Are the Advantages and Use Cases for a Two-Story Trade Show Exhibit?

Double-deck or two-story exhibit booths can make a significant impact at a trade show. These exhibit booths have second stories placed on top of the primary exhibit space. In most instances, island booths utilize this idea, allowing them to stand out in the sea of exhibits at a trade show.

There are specific advantages in using two-story exhibits and use cases where they make a lot of sense.

Advantages of Two-Story Exhibits

In the right setting, two-story exhibits can provide significant benefits for exhibitors. From increased visibility to maximize your use of space, here are the specific advantages you can expect to see.

1. Increased Visibility
   When you have a two-story exhibit, no one will miss it, even if your competitors have particularly tall displays. It is going to stand out across the trade show floor. If you add engaging graphics to the outside of the second story, people will remember your booth.
   
   Visibility is important in busy trade show settings because people need to see you to visit your booth. If they have a visual marker, they are more likely to make their way across the expansive space to visit yours.
   
   
2. Increased Space
   The floor space in your booth is limited to the venue's layout. There is little you can do to expand that other than reserving two side-by-side spaces, which can increase your costs. Adding a second story doubles your space, giving you more room for activities, displays, and demos.
   
   
3. Separated Spaces
   In addition to increasing your space, having a second story allows you to separate spaces with different purposes. You can create private areas for negotiations and discussions on the second floor, away from the bustle and noise of your main exhibit area. You can also have a separate area for demos that is outside of the main walkway in your exhibit.
   
   
4. Elevated Perspective
   People are drawn to two-story booths because they get a unique vantage point to see the rest of the trade show. This elevated perspective may actually increase the amount of traffic you have at your booth, and every person that comes into the space will be able to interact with your staff - potentially increasing the success of your event.

Use Cases for Two-Story Exhibits

How can you use a two-story exhibit effectively? These use cases can give you some ideas.

Private Meeting Areas
One common use of a second story is setting up some office-like spaces for private meeting areas. When you are ready to close a deal or negotiate a contract, you need a space to handle those negotiations without a large audience. Take your potential customer upstairs to a quiet space to handle these discussions.

Product Demos
If you have a product that needs a more personalized demonstration, use a second-story to do demos with customers. This will allow you to save demos for people who are truly interested, and leave the rest of your space for people who are just browsing.

VIP Lounge
Do you have VIPs you wish to honor at your trade show? Set up a VIP lounge where you can reward them for being loyal customers. You’ll build brand awareness and loyalty while also keeping your main floor open to attract new customers.

Brand Experiences
Many brands benefit from allowing customers to have hands-on experiences with their products or services. These brand experiences can be set up on the second floor to give a more interactive experience to your exhibit. For example, if your company offers massage services as part of an overall wellness service business, you could have a chair and even table massage tables set up on the second floor to give them a chance to try you out.

Examples of Booths with Second Stories

At Exhibit Options, we have helped several companies maximize their trade show space by building second-story exhibits. Here are some examples of how these spaces worked.

Mobileye CES Booth
When Mobileye went to CES, they wanted a large island exhibit space, meeting rooms and a VIP lounge area as part of their design requirement. We accommodated this by building a double-decker structure with five meeting rooms and a private lounge on the upper floor. On the main floor, guests could interact with an LED wall and sit in a seating area to use interactive touchscreen workstations. We even had space for an employee break room!

Marvell Technology, Inc.
Marvell Technology, Inc., contacted us when they were heading to the OFC Conference with a request for an upgraded booth design. They needed a private demo room and four private meeting rooms - a two-story design was ideal. We put two meeting rooms upstairs, two downstairs, and added the demo area to the main floor. This allowed us to add an L-shaped reception counter and plenty of screens and graphics to draw people in.

Q-SYS
Q-SYS wanted an upgraded, expanded space for their InfoComm trade show booth. We added an open-window VIP meeting space on the second floor as well as a lounge overlooking the trade show for attendees to take breaks. This then allowed them to have a private meeting room and demo area on their lower level.

Start Your Two-Story Design Today

If you’re looking for an elevated trade show booth design, consider going taller with a two-story structure. Reach out to the experienced team at Exhibit Options for designing and building services from our exhibit house.