A 36 m² stand for HEXAGON at the World Nuclear Exhibition, Paris Nord Villepinte, 28–30 November 2023. It was delivered by the team that now designs and fabricates under the Echo Expo name.
The project
WNE is the global trade show for the civil nuclear industry, held in Hall 7 at Paris Nord Villepinte. The build was specified as follows.
- A wooden MDF structure, built to the approved design
- An elevated platform on an aluminium frame, with integrated LED strips
- Carpet flooring
- A backlit 3D logo in laser die-cut letters
- Further die-cut lettering in Forex
- HD printed wall decoration
- A storage room with a lockable door and shelving
- Three fabricated podiums with closets and printed panels
- A ceiling structure
- Printed graphics for the demonstration stations
Nuclear is a credibility industry, and the stand has to carry it
Civil nuclear buying decisions run on long timescales and are made by engineers and procurement teams inside utilities, EPC contractors and national programmes. Nobody at WNE buys on impulse. The stand exists to make a company look like a credible long-term supplier, and the details that do that are unglamorous: square construction, clean joints, even lighting, and finishes that look deliberate rather than assembled.
That is why the podiums were fabricated with integrated closets rather than draped, and why the logo was backlit and die-cut rather than printed. On a 36 m² footprint surrounded by much larger national and corporate stands, build quality is the only differentiator available.
What the venue actually requires — and where a design usually fails
WNE’s architectural regulations are stricter than many European shows, and three of them catch designs regularly:
- Every side facing an aisle must be at least 50% open. Only elements under 1 m high (planters, reception counters) or genuinely mobile elements count as opening. A design that closes three sides will be refused
- Any raised floor over 2 cm that the public steps onto needs a wheelchair ramp — 0.90 m wide, a slope between 2% and 5%, integrated into the stand and not projecting into the aisle. An elevated platform is therefore a plan decision, not a finish decision, because the ramp has to come out of your own floor area
- Maximum height 5 m, with a 1 m clearance from the neighbour’s edge for anything between 2.50 m and 5 m. Partitions facing a neighbour must be smooth, plain and white or grey — no branding, no cable runs, no visible bracing. Multi-level stands are not permitted at all
Plans go to the organiser’s appointed assessor for approval well before the show — roughly six weeks ahead for a late-November edition — and anything hung from the hall structure can only be installed by the venue’s own technical teams, with a stability report from a certified company.
The rule most foreign contractors miss
Building in France with a crew from outside France triggers a legal obligation that has nothing to do with stand design. Workers posted to French soil must be declared in advance through the SIPSI portal, and the exhibitor — not only the contractor — is responsible for ensuring it has been done. A copy of the declaration must be provided.
If it has not been done, the labour inspectorate can suspend work on site or cancel participation in the show. It is a paperwork step that costs nothing and, missed, can stop a build on the Saturday before opening. Ask any contractor quoting you for a French show whether they file it.
Why it matters
This puts civil nuclear and energy technology into our record, alongside our oil and gas work at Gastech and fire protection at NAEPEC. It also adds a fourth Paris project, alongside SIAL, JEC World and Maison & Objet.
Services delivered
- Stand design, 3D visualisation and visual design services
- Wooden MDF structure built to the approved design
- Elevated platform with aluminium frame and integrated LED strips
- Carpet flooring, with protective film over the hall floor throughout installation
- Backlit 3D laser die-cut logo letters, plus Forex die-cut lettering
- HD printed wall decoration and demonstration-station graphics
- Three fabricated podiums with integrated closets
- Storage room with lockable door and shelving
- Ceiling structure
- Installation and dismantling
Frequently asked questions
Do you build at Paris Nord Villepinte?
Yes — WNE, SIAL and JEC World among others. Trucks are not permitted inside the pavilions and all vehicles must be pre-registered, so deliveries are planned around the venue’s access system rather than improvised.
Can we have a raised floor?
Yes, and it is worth it for cable management and for lighting details like recessed LED strips. Just budget the accessibility ramp into the layout from the start — it has to sit inside your own area.
Do you handle the French posted-worker declaration?
It is a legal requirement for any crew posted to France, and it is part of how a French build is planned rather than an afterthought. Ask us about it when you brief the project.
Looking for a WNE stand builder?
Official event information is published by the organiser at world-nuclear-exhibition.com. Tell us the venue, the dates and the stand size, and we will come back with a design and a build plan. Talk to us about your stand, or see our work in France.