Vision 2016 – An interview with Matt Underhill, Event Director

In this, the third and final in a series of exclusive interviews, UK Construction Online speaks to Matt Underhill – Event Director for Vision 2016 – about the two day showcase and this year’s eclectic schedule.

What workshops, seminars and guest speakers can visitors look forward to this year?

Vision is the only event in the UK specifically targeted at architects, specifiers and their clients, and the education programme reflects this. At Vision 2015 the educational programme was a great success, with several sessions oversubscribed, so we have developed this further for the 2016 event. The programme will once again run across both days of the event (7^th and 8^th June), covering seven key streams. All sessions are free-to-attend when you register in advance, and visitors can pick and mix from the different streams to create their own learning programme. Alongside the education programme, visitors will also have the chance to visit our exhibition in between seminar sessions, where they can see some of the most innovative products and solutions on the market today.

The 2016 programme builds on the most successful seminar streams from 2015 and also includes some new ones. Our core streams are still focused heavily on, for example the Future Materials & Systems stream, as after all that is what our exhibitors are delivering on the show floor – cutting-edge materials and innovations. This stream includes some exciting sessions on the use of nanomaterials and organic biomaterials as well as looking at the reuse of traditional materials such as steel. Other core streams from 2015 include Innovation in Architecture & Design sponsored by Marshalls – a chance to learn from leading architects about the latest architecture and design projects across domestic and commercial, retail, education and health – and Building Health & Wellness, which looks at how the buildings we live and work in can affect our wellbeing and how new standards in design and construction can alter this. This stream is sponsored by Saint-Gobain who will be outlining their new Multi-Comfort concept at the show.

Our popular Technology Talks will form part of the programme again in 2016 – with key sessions including talks on robotic fabrication and 3D printing – and we are also adding three brand new seminar streams, Offsite & Modular Construction, Smart Buildings and Building Information Modelling (BIM). These are three areas that are becoming increasingly important to architects and specifiers as the market grows, so are a natural extension to our seminar programme. In the case of BIM we are taking a new angle, looking at the challenges as well as the positive aspects of the technology. For example it’s a great opportunity but it does carry a security risk, so we are exploring how the industry will deal with those pressures as well as the good points about BIM.

Altogether the 2016 education programme will provide over 150 hours of CPD accredited seminars and workshops, running across four theatres over the two days of the event, all free of charge to visitors. The full programme is published on our website. We are very excited to be welcoming over 120 international speakers to Vision 2016, including prominent figures such as Professor Rachel Armstrong, Professor of Experimental Architecture at Newcastle University; Anssi Lassila, Director & Founder of OOPEEA; Professor Arch. Fabrizio Rossi Prodi, Lead Architect at RossiProdi Associati; and Professor Tim Sharpe, Director of The Mackintosh Environmental Architecture Research Unit.

Given the success of the inaugural event, has it been easier to organise the 2016 event? Where have the major challenges come from?

We’ve learnt a lot from the success of the last event but it doesn’t stop there, and it certainly never gets easier if you want to nurture and grow an event. The major challenges have come from identifying the key themes in the industry and then finding the right ways to deliver this to our audience. Vision is all about the future of the built environment and innovation in the industry, so we need to stay on top of all the latest trends and technology available, to ensure that the event stays current and leads the field. So in 2016 we are developing our educational programme, growing the exhibition to include even more products and solutions, and adding more innovative features.

Beyond 2016, how do you see the event developing further in the future?

Vision will continue to develop along with the industry and stay relevant to our audience of architects, specifiers and their clients. We hope to develop long term partnerships with our exhibitors who will continue to support the show and to use it as a platform for their own innovations. We will never lose sight of what our visitor audience needs and wants and where the market is moving.

Vision 2016 takes place at London Olympia on 7^th and 8^th June 2016. To claim your free visitor pass visit the Vision 2016 website.

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