Inaugural edition of Building Futures Gulf by BATIMAT draws to a successful close

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225 exhibitors from 26 countries took part in the show.

Visitor surveys conducted at the show reveal that 82% of visitors at the show were decision-makers from a range of project management and contracting companies and architecture firms.

Seventy 9% of the exhibitors who were polled at the event said that it has exceeded their expectations.

'We are very pleased with the success of the inaugural edition of the show. BUILDING FUTURES GULF by BATIMAT was conceived by Reed Exhibitions in response to a market need here for a comprehensive platform for key stakeholders in the building sector to gain an insight into current happenings and upcoming industry trends. We believe that the event has managed to achieve this objective',

said Leonard Lecoq, Show Manager at Reed Exhibitions Middle East.

BUILDING FUTURES GULF by BATIMAT was organized by Reed Exhibitions Middle East with the support and participation of the International Union of Architects (UIA) and the UAE Contractor's Association.

Leading international names such as Saint Gobain Glass, Knauf, AFICO-Owens Corning, Technal, AMC Protection-Siplast, Dow Corning, Somfy, KME, Kingspan and Corus, and major local and regional companies including Tabreed, Emirates Iron & Steel, Unibeton and Emirates International Investment Company had noticeable presence at the show.

Abdo Aoun, General Manager of Somfy Middle East, said: 'The show attracted quality visitors and we are happy with our participation here. The visitors at our stand included consultants on façade, contractors, architects and system integrators. The industry has moved towards bio-climatic design and we are pleased to have had the opportunity to showcase Somfy's solutions in this domain'.

Somfy, which is the global leader in providing motors and control systems in residential and commercial buildings, had on display its patented animeo technology the show.

The system has been used at the new headquarters of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and at other landmarks worldwide including the Commercial Bank of Qatar headquarters, the Media Tower (Germany), Environment Protection Agency Building (USA) and the headquarters of Banque Populaire de l'Atlantique (France).

Several other exhibitors were also impressed by the quality of visitors who attended the show.
Joaquim Rodrigues, Director Commercial of Portugal-based Constalica said: 'Our participation at the show has resulted in significant orders for Constalica and I am very glad we decided to take part. I am keen to return next year as I am happy with the return-on-investment from our participation at this first edition'.

According to Srijit Babu, Sales Manager at Merint LLC, representative commercial agency of Saint-Gobain Glass in the UAE: 'Although the number of visitors has not been very high, every visitor we have had at our stand has been of a relevant target profile'.

He also said that the visitors had expressed keen interest in Saint-Gobain's latest-generation, high performance glass for facade applications which was launched at the event.

Several new building industry technologies were showcased at Building Futures Gulf by BATIMAT. EUBIQ, a pioneering Singapore-based company, showcased the world's first-of-its-kind electrical power outlet system that is practical and safe.

The innovative track system allows the addition, removal and repositioning of power outlets anytime and anywhere and is very convenient for use in homes, offices and commercial buildings.

Nahr Security Solutions Limited presented its integrated security solutions covering video analytics, biometric identification, access control and IP network testing solutions while Knauf displayed its industry-leading Fire, Moisture and Impact Resistant boards which are widely used in the building industry today.

AMC Protection-SIPLAST showcased its range of waterproofing systems including their Basement Tanking Systems.

The International Architects Conference was also held in parallel with Building Futures Gulf by BATIMAT during which a panel of expert speakers comprising world renowned architects shared their insights on a wide variety of topics including the concept of wholelife value of buildings, environmentally sustainable construction techniques, as well as other key issues confronting the Middle East building industry from an architectural stand-point.

The Conference was hosted by the International Union of Architects (UIA) and Reed Exhibitions Middle East and was themed around 'Fair Practices in the Building Sector'.

The highlight of the last day's presentations was a joint session addressed by Gaetan Siew, current President of UIA and Professor German Suarez Betancourt from Colombia who spoke on 'The Whole life value concept for cost effective and sustainable buildings'.

Among the other leading speakers at the UIA conference were Nikos Fintikakis, Director of the UIA's 'ARES' (Architecture and Renewable Energy Sources) programme, Jean-Marie Charpentier, a Member of the UIA Board, Vivianna Metallinou, an expert on city architecture, Gunham Danisman, Vice President and member of the Board of Directors at Istanbul Metrolpolitan Brand. C.T.A, Chamber of Architects of Turkey and Lebanon's Michel Barmaki.