world's biggest building industry show

Itr/E'RE talking big here. Show

Y Y area: 2.5 million square feet. Exhibitors: 3,918. Visitors: 598,858, of which 70,124 were from 132 foreign countries. The show program weighs 5-314 lbs. and is nearly 2 inches thick.

It's Batimat 95, the French extravaganza held every other year in Paris for anybody and everybody connected with building and building products.

While similar in scope, if not in size, to many U.S. trade shows, Batimat (rough translation: building materials) nonetheless has several twists probably unique to the French. Not the least of these is the eating and drinking that goes on in the exhibit booths. Metsa Timber, one of Europe's largest sawmilling firms, had a full-size bar at the rear of its extensive display. At l0 a.m. one moming it was full of showgoers quaffing the local champagne.

Held in a cluster of huge buildings near the River Seine, the main show uses airport style moving walkways to move people between eight large buildings. Due to the size of the show, the heating, ventilating, air conditioning and tool displays are at a site on the northern fringe of Paris. Transportation between venues is by

Story at a Glance

Monster French trade show draws nearly 600,000 everything to do with building and building products ... next show: fall '97.

taxi, bus, rail or, for big spenders, via helicopter right from the helipad on the show grounds.

The French love of food is well tended. Five different restaurants with five price levels are placed about the grounds. At the stand-up deli near the main entrance a ham sandwich and a small salad with two American Cokes were $23.85. (We didn't bother to price out the most expensive eatery.)

The huge show attendance is even more remarkable considering the price of admission. Pre-registration: $ 15. Registration at the show with an invitation card: $20. If you just walk up, it's $47 to get in.

Computers were much in evidence with buyers using their laptops, as exhibitors often had two or three computers in their booth. A special show section featured more than 20 firms exhibiting computer hardware and software for buying, selling and using building products.

Among the handful of American companies exhibiting were Jeld-Wen, Velux, Alumax and Therma Tru, with the booths generally manned by their European staffers. The National Association of Home Builders also had a booth. Foreign companies marketing extensively in the U.S., such as the German machinery manufacturer Michael Weinig, were also present. Reflecting the continuing move to a global economy, show organizers Groupe Blenheim said each year more foreign firms and visitors are represented at the show. The company puts on 245 shows worldwide each year. Virtually all the signage directing visitors through Batimat was in both French and English. Nearly 40Vo of companies represented were from outside of France.

Most of the displays wouldn't look out of place in an American show. The big players didn't spare the francs. Two-story displays were common and second story VIP decks frequently topped larger displays. Not to mention the omnipresent food and drink available for the thirsty, hungry showgoer.

Reflecting the age of Europe, restoration is big business. A wide range of products was displayed, and the techniques and tricks to old building fix-up were available on computer software. Along with the old, the newer concept of ecology was widely represented, with many displays screaming out their green claims.

Kitchen business was well represented, ranging from farm spartan to the latest in sleek Euro design. Many cabinets used birch and other lightcolored woods so popular in Europe, often accented by high-gloss surfaces. Plumbing products have advanced markedly in the last decade, but still generally lag American know-how.

Entrance doors are very popular, ranging from utilitarian to mundane to just plain weird. Burl wood doors, though costly, are a popular item. Windows tended to be sturdier than their U.S. counterparts, reflecting the often harsh European winters. Innovative. swingin-any-direction home and roof windows remain continental favorites.

Show organizers made it easy to find companies and products. A computerized locator was by each entrance along with floor layout maps and directions in English and French. Some maps featured a special trail to lead to the companies showing new products.

Among interesting new products was Ateliers Boullet's one-hour fire resistant, glazed partition without intermediate masonry, into which doors can be built; Blasi showed an automatic revolving door with revolving floor; Bubendorf had a roller blind operable by radio control; Emaver exhibited laminated glass whose color could be changed electronically; Hewi France showed a push-pull door handle; as did JPM Chauvat; Maillard displayed telescoping MDF door frames, covered with wood veneer, that reportedly fit 8O7o of all existing frames.

Saint Gobain Vitrage had an exterior glass for facades that had two, nonrepetitive, abstract patterns; Sarpap presented a water-dispersible microemulsion treatment to combat blue stain on freshly cut lumber; Velux France showed a dual blind for a roof window that either screens out light or blacks out the window completely; Cree exhibited a mini-ramp for wheelchair access over thresholds; Idealu demonstrated their non-load bearing tubular steel studs made by welding two symmetrical half-sections; Parquetrerie Berrichonne presented solid oak mosaic parquet floors with adhesive backs said to bond to any subfloor.

Batimat was held Nov. 6-l l. 1995.