The 20th annual Barcelona Building Construmat(BBConstrumat) fair, the International Construction Exhibition held at Fira de Barcelona, returned this year to a growth mode, increasing its exhibition space by 25% and the number of direct exhibitors by 27% compared to the 2015 event. With 13,800 square meters of exhibition space and nearly 800 participating companies, this industry benchmark event is proof of the upturn being experienced by the Spanish construction industry.

After several years in which the exhibition suffered the impact of the financial crisis, Barcelona Building Construmat now offers a value proposition that responds to the current needs of an industry that is beginning to show signs of recovery and reactivation. For this reason, BBConstrumat 2017, held from May 23rd to the 26th in pavilion 2 of the Gran Via hall, will spotlight digitalization and innovation as the levers of change that the industry needs to move forward into a new era.

In this regard, the Fira de Barcelona event is the only one held in Europe to dedicate an exclusive area to innovation in construction, with more than 2,000 square meters set aside to display the latest innovations and advances. This area, known as the Future Arena and occupying the center of the hall, will be used to provide information about new technologies capable of contributing to increased productivity in companies in our industry.

In addition to the Future Arena, BBConstrumat will include three major themed areas: the Industry Arena will welcome all 787 direct and indirect exhibitors in the hall; the Talks Arena will be used to host the three conferences to be held within the framework of the exhibition, and the Meetings Arena will provide an expansive area for business contacts.  

The event director, Ione Ruete, has placed special emphasis on the “excellent support that the construction industry has provided to the fair’s new focus, begun in 2015 and now reflected by an increase in the number of participating firms.” 

Ana Vallés, for her part, is clearly optimistic about the future of the industry, offering assurance that “BBConstrmat is an indispensable event for reviving the construction industry.” 

The new president of the trade fair reminded listeners that “our industry impacts society, impacts the economy, and impacts the environment. Now more than ever, we absolutely must reflect on our impact.  This trade fair offers many opportunities to do just that. The encouragement of debate and discussion has been at the core of this event’s identity since it was first held in 1979, and it remains so in 2017. The Talks Arena space will be used to discuss matters such as innovation, social housing, and the circular economy, led by more than 50 presenters from around the world.”

Business meetings and industry events
In addition, more than 150 B2B meetings will be held, together with activities such as the National and International Contract Forum, which will include the participation of interior design professionals and entrepreneurs from around the world, in particular from the hotel industry, although commercial and retail construction representatives will also be in attendance; the Employment Forum, where a variety of architecture- and construction-related positions will be offered; and the Brokerage Event, a business gathering consisting of B2B meetings with a 30-minute face-to-face interview format, intended to help industry companies and professionals find business partners with which to collaborate on domestic and international projects; and the ICEX international consulting service, among others.

In addition, Barcelona Building Barcelona, in cooperation with the Official College of Architects of Barcelona (COAC), the City of Barcelona and the Mies van der Rohe Foundation, will organize ‘Architecture Week’, a series of activities intended to saturate Barcelona with architecture, design, and construction during the trade fair in the form of architectural workshops, discussions, a film cycle, and expositions.

Also to be held within the framework of the event is the third annual European BIM Summit (EBS), organized by the College of Surveyors of Barcelona (CAASTEEB), the BIM Academy and the Spanish chapter of buildingSMART. This event will present the latest developments in this IT system, Building Information Modeling (BIM), a way to generate and manage a building’s data throughout its life cycle.