10,000 square metres for a limited time: Why area30 is rebuilt every year

Every year, an exhibition hall with around 10,000 square metres of space is built in Löhne, East Westphalia. After six days as a trade fair, it disappears again. What initially sounds like a short-lived structure tells a different story on closer inspection: one of reusable materials, life cycles spanning decades, and the question of how spaces can be used flexibly without building them permanently. A look behind the scenes at area30 shows what lies behind the concept of temporary exhibition halls.

Written by Johanna Köhler

Visitors at exhibition stands at area30 in Löhne. The temporary exhibition hall is filled with displays and trade visitors engaged in conversation.

Aluminium beams are ready, trucks deliver wall and roof elements. Step by step, an exhibition hall is taking shape on the festival grounds. By the opening of area30 from 19 to 24 September, hardly any of this will still be visible. Visitors move through exhibition spaces, hold conversations, and discover new products and trends relating to the kitchen. What few people notice: the hall itself is part of a development increasingly shaped by questions of resource use, land use, and the circular economy.

An exhibition hall that grows with its tasks

Löhne is regarded as the centre of the German kitchen furniture industry. Every year, manufacturers in the region open their showrooms to specialist retail partners. For many companies in the sector that do not have their own location on site, area30 offers a shared platform.

Because there is no existing hall in the region of the required size, organiser trendfairs has relied for years on a temporary exhibition complex. Three modular halls together form the approximately 10,000 square metres of exhibition space. For project manager Arian Kiesling, this is a key advantage: “Due to the flexibility of the construction, the structure was and is able to grow with the success of area30. This would not have been possible with a permanent exhibition hall.” However, the flexibility does not only concern the space. It also makes it possible to respond to changing requirements without having to permanently construct new buildings.

Three workers during the setup of area30 in Löhne. One stands on a blue aerial work platform, while exhibition stands and technical equipment are being prepared in the background. — Every year, area30 is created anew – thanks to flexible hall systems, experienced teams, and precise logistics.

From fairground to trade fair and on to Oktoberfest

What makes the concept special is its reusability. Hardly have the last visitors left area30 when the next deployment already begins for large parts of the exhibition hall. Some components remain in Löhne and are reused for Oktoberfest. Others travel to events in Germany or elsewhere in Europe. “If one and the same structure is used at up to ten different locations, it replaces ten permanent buildings,” says Kiesling.

The site itself remains flexible in its use. After dismantling, there are no long-term maintenance costs, no permanent soil sealing, and no buildings whose use may end after just a few years. Instead, the same location can be used again and again for different purposes.

In use for 20 to 30 years

At Losberger De Boer, the company behind area30’s hall systems, sustainability does not begin only with the setup. What matters is the entire life cycle of the structure. Many components are used for decades. After each event, they are inspected, maintained, and repaired if necessary. Then they go on to their next deployment. “The average service life of our structures is 20 to 30 years,” explains CSR Manager Chaima Madani.

This is made possible by the modular design. Individual elements can be replaced or repaired without having to replace the entire structure. If a hall is no longer needed in one place, it does not become waste. The components are recombined and used for other projects. This principle follows the idea of a circular economy: using materials for as long as possible and preserving their value.

What visitors barely see

During the trade fair, the focus is usually on what is happening at the stands. What remains invisible, however, is a large part of the infrastructure. Behind the scenes, temporary kitchens, cold storage facilities, sanitary facilities, technical rooms, heating and air-conditioning systems, Wi-Fi networks, waste disposal areas, and first-aid stations are created. Within just a few days, an infrastructure emerges that is comparable to that of a permanent exhibition hall. “Basically, area30 operates around the clock,” says Kiesling.

What is impressive is not only the quantity of materials, but above all the logistics behind it. Every component must be delivered, installed, and removed again within just a few days after the event ends. From the coffee cup to the refrigerated container, every element leaves the site again.

Setup work in the “benthaus” area at area30, with ladders, packaged components and technical equipment used to prepare exhibition stands and infrastructure. — What disappears again after just a few days at the trade fair is part of a long-term concept for reusability and resource conservation.

How hall construction is evolving

At the same time, temporary hall construction itself is also evolving. Modern hall systems are increasingly focusing on energy-efficient solutions. At area30, among other things, LED lighting has been installed in recent years, climate heat pumps have been integrated, and roof systems have been further developed to reduce heat build-up and heat loss. Accessibility also played an important role in the further development of the infrastructure. In addition, the question of the actual CO₂ footprint is coming increasingly into focus. According to Losberger De Boer, the circular economy, energy efficiency, and transparent environmental metrics in particular will become increasingly important in the future. “We expect measurable environmental impacts to play an increasingly important role in the future,” says Madani.

Spaces for encounters

However, sustainability is not limited to material and energy balances. Temporary halls also fulfil a social function. For a few days, a place is created where people come together, make contacts, exchange knowledge, and initiate business. Trade fairs in particular thrive on these personal encounters. “Our structures create spaces where people can meet, make contacts, exchange knowledge, and do business,” Madani emphasises.

area30 is a good example of this. What appears to visitors like a temporary exhibition hall is in fact part of a system that is used for many years and in many places. When, after the event, the last elements are loaded and the fairground is free again, the story of the hall does not end. It begins anew elsewhere. And that is precisely where its special characteristic lies: that it remains, even though it disappears.

Author

Johanna Köhler

Online Editing // PR Trainee