Overview
A circular trade stall built around a single lit column — awarded Best Overall Trade Stall at Architect 2024.
- Client
- M.M. Noorbhoy & Co.
- Discipline
- Exhibition
- Type
- Trade Exhibition Stall
- Year
- 2024
- Imagery
- CGI visualisation
- Frames
- 4
Intent
A drum-shaped stall, open on all sides, built around one internally lit central column. Visitors enter from any point on the circle rather than a single front, a dark fascia ring carries the company name overhead, and the glass display bays are set at eye level because the products shown are small.
Language
Fluted, internally lit surfaces and slender rods against a dark fascia ring. Vertical fins carry the brands stocked, EUROART, ATHMER, EPIC, FANTOM, BRIO and SALTO, as architecture rather than applied graphics. Timber and planting crown the column and soften the metal and glass.
Features
- 01
The central column
A fluted column, lit from within, stands at the centre of the drum and is visible from every approach. It is crowned with a timber fan and planting, which gives the stand height and a silhouette that can be picked out across the hall floor.
- 02
Display and shelving
Glass shelves on slender rods hold the hardware at eye level and are lit from behind, so ironmongery is seen at the height it is handled rather than laid flat in a case. The supports are kept thin so the products, not the fixture, carry the display.
- 03
Brand columns and signage
Vertical fins around the perimeter carry the brands stocked, so the names are read in elevation from any angle of approach. The curved fascia ring above holds the company name and closes the whole stand as a single object.
- 04
Counter and plinth
A curved counter with a lit panel handles conversation without blocking the circle, and a raised circular plinth lifts the stand clear of the exhibition floor. That step is the threshold, and it marks the stand as a room rather than a stretch of aisle.
Specification
- Structure
- Raised circular plinth, curved fascia ring
- Joinery
- Fluted central column, timber fan crown, curved counter
- Display
- Glass shelves on slender metal rods
- Planting
- Live planting at the head of the column
- Tones
- Dark fascia, warm internal light, timber, green
The column is lit from inside and reads as the light source for the whole stand. Shelving is lit from behind so small hardware is seen against a glow, and the counter carries its own lit panel at the working edge.
Gallery
In closing
The stand was named Best Overall Trade Stall at Architect 2024 by the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects. A lit column, a ring of brands and a floor you step up onto — very little else was needed.
Recognition
Sri Lanka Institute of Architects