If you’re tired of designing exhibits within the confines of a brand’s colors, you’ve got to come to Design & Construction Week 2025 for inspiration, where staging, colors, finishes and lighting all come together to create impactful, visual brand stories.
Design & Construction Week (DCW) that brings together the International Builders’ Show (IBS) and the National Kitchen & Bath Association’s Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (KBIS) welcomed more than 124,000 attendees and nearly 2,500 exhibitors across 1.2 million net square feet of indoor and outdoor exhibits at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Feb. 25-27.
From statement art pieces to new dimensions with bold use of overhead real estate to fully built-out showrooms that look like they could be featured on the cover of Architectural Digest, it’s a trade show like no other. But it’s not just design. Brands continue to experiment with engagement and measurement, tapping into the expertise and enthusiasm of a crowd passionate about home design and construction.
Resolving to remodel in browns and earth tones to stay grounded, EM walked the floor for brand experiences that transport, inform, and delight.
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Kohler
On the intersection of art and design, Kohler showcased its latest products and thought leadership in a 15,000-square-foot booth that brought together its family of brands in meticulously crafted vignettes telling the story of innovation and sustainability. Attendees were greeted by an awe-inspiring “Design Changes Everything” installation featuring the Veil smart toilet and the black dress that it inspired, designed by Laura Kim. The heart of the exhibit was a suspended sculpture titled Scuola Di Pesci by David Frankilin, created from the same material used for making the brand’s sinks and toilets and coated with the same finish as its faucets. Adding a new dimension to the experience, attendees could learn more about the works of art and collections by tapping their phones to the signs. Kohler ultimately earned the “Best in Show” title for the third year in a row.
GE Appliances, a Haier Company
A bubble sculpture by Shawn Kolodny grabbed the attention of attendees in the heart of The Design District, fittingly reflecting all the booths that are part of GE Appliances, a Haier Company. In CAFÉ, attendees got a boost of dopamine with bold colors and statement-making items. GE Appliances showcased an Accessory Dwelling Unit, leaning into the universal design principles for better accessibility, that felt happy and welcoming. GE Profile was all about next-level connectivity and innovation, while Monogram, with a line even on day three, invited attendees to experience luxury and opulence in every thoughtful detail, from rich velvets to custom art pieces to countertops you couldn’t help but run your finger across.
For all brands in the family, every detail and every prop were intentional, says Reed Sowder, exhibit designer with Deckel & Moneypenny. The company also used this space as an opportunity to conduct product research: In several of the booths, attendees were invited to scan QR codes and rank appliance finishes as well as provide other forms of feedback to gauge trends and inform future product development. (Partner: Deckel & Moneypenny)
Whirlpool Corporation
Furry books? Wet laundry sculptures? It was all part of the story at the 5,600-square-foot exhibit, bringing together Whirpool, KitchenAid, JennAir and Maytag, anchored by a rotating KitchenAid new finishes display. From here, attendees could follow the Gallery of Care with Whirlpool, showcasing playful art pieces inspired by everyday challenges, such as Front Load Funk, a mountain of wet towels that inspired an engineer to use an antimicrobial gasket in front load washers. Or they could walk through the fine mist into the JennAir’s Defiant Lounge, a completely enclosed space that hosted invite-only happy hours and showcased the new downdraft induction cooktop and designer series panels. Maytag welcomed attendees into an icicle-clad refrigerator area and a monochrome room where every element, including the walls, was made of gray fur as a setting for pet-related products. A kinetic wall with KitchenAid finish swatches was a perfect finishing touch. (Partners: ID3, IGE)
Rockwool
Tactile engagement was the star of Rockwool’s 3,000-square-foot exhibit that delicately balanced home construction and exhibit fabrication to showcase the brand’s products in real-life applications. The brand found that attendees wanted answers to technical questions and fulfilled that need with robust programming and hands-on areas like fire, water and vapor activations. To optimize this new exhibit for future trade shows, the brand used surveys, QR codes for additional product information, and sensors positioned around the key areas for a holistic picture of interest and engagement. It didn’t take extra data to see the popularity of the Hush Hallway that showcased the sound-absorbing properties of the brand’s products and provided a welcomed and unexpected opportunity to have a conversation in quiet. (Partner: Impact XM)
Zline Kitchen and Bath
Drawing inspiration from the scenery around its headquarters at Lake Tahoe, Zline delivered on a promise of affordable luxury with a thoughtfully designed exhibit, featuring the main kitchen under a glass chandelier, kitchen vignettes and a “man-cave” bar complete with “elegant, feminine touches.” The star of the show arguably was the Autograph Edition appliance line, showcased in a tunnel at the center of the exhibit. “It’s a calm space where you can pause for a moment and give yourself time to experience it,” says Moritz Merkert with Zline.
For this new build, the brand did away with funneling traffic starting in a central reception area and instead opted for multiple entry points. Signs inviting attendees to scan for a prize drawing were posted around the exhibit in different vignettes to measure interest and engagement both for product development and future booth design purposes.
Kember Interiors
Several brands took advantage of overhead real estate, but Kember Interiors was showstopping with its lighting structure comprised of the brand’s decorative wall panels edged with LEDs. Clad in warm woods and veneers, the exhibit below created a sense of welcoming coziness on a show floor. Unique and eye-catching, the overhead structure didn’t feel heavy or overpowering but instead added a creative dimension, extending the space beyond the ordinary.
Neolith
Located at the end of a very long aisle, Spanish brand Neolith brought in attendees with dramatic entrance architecture that also doubled as a social media sharing opportunity. “We knew we had to create a wow effect because otherwise we wouldn’t get any traffic,” says Andreas Manero with Neolith. “So we built ‘a box of light’ that resembled the inside of a camera of a reflex camera. You can see yourself reflected in the floors and the roof.”
Attendees couldn’t help but take photos and also learn the brand’s two key messages—a product announcement and a commitment to sustainability—placed front and center against the mirrors. The setup was a real “focus” of attention, capturing the essence of design and sustainability in a single frame.
Photo credit: Anna Huddleston
