Seminar Theatres

Theatre 1: How To

The How To Theatre will provide you with a fantastic insight into what’s needed to get a project up and running. Each day kicks off with a ‘Where Do I Start’ seminar from project management expert Mike Hardwick: essential if, like many others, you’re at all daunted by the concept of building your own home! This is followed by the Finance experts running through the basics of Financing Your Project: whether you’re thinking about your first project or completing your fourth, this seminar is packed full of valuable information. After this, the PlotSearch experts take to the stage to help visitors understand how to go about Finding the Perfect Plot or Project for their dream home.

Don’t miss Materials specialist Chris Newby as he discusses the ins and outs of Purchasing Trades & Materials; this seminar promises to help you save hard cash throughout a build, renovation or conversion project. Another fascinating seminar promises to be ‘Energy Proofing Your Home’ with eco expert Dave Hilton – you’ll be amazed at how much you’ll learn!

Theatre 2: Design & Build

The Design & Build Theatre brings together representatives from each of the main building systems types (timber frame, brick & block, ICF, SIPs and Super E) to help you decide what would be the most suitable material to use for the structure of your home or extension. Involved in this theatre will be Framewise, Potton, Masonry Homes, Kingspan TEK, Beco and the representatives of Super E.

These seminars will be accompanied by Mike Hardwick’s ever-popular Project Management seminar – covering everything you need to consider if you’d like to run your building project yourself; and by Evolved Design’s Achieving the Code – how to design your home to take in to account the Code for Sustainability, the first part of which comes into force in January 2010.

Theatre 3: Product Presentations

Find out more about our exhibitors’ products! The Product Presentation Theatre is your opportunity to hear more from the exhibitors about their key products, and to ask them the questions you’ve always wanted answers to!

Companies involved in this Theatre include: Helical Systems (foundations); Wolseley (solar technologies); the Performance Window Group (windows & doors); Rainwater Harvesting Ltd (rainwater harvesting products); British Eco (eco technologies); Wavin (underfloor heating); Framewise (timber frames); A J Wells (wood burning stoves); Thermal Engineering Systems (ground source heat pumps); Xtratherm (insulation); Villavent (air tightness, insulation & ventilation); Prestige Fire Protection (fire control); and the Baxi Group (micro generation and combined heat & power).

Theatre 4: Case Studies

Learn from other people’s experiences – the good, the bad, and the ugly! We’ve asked a selection of exhibitors to present their customers’ real life experiences when building or renovating their homes: what’s gone wrong and how it was put right, what’s gone particularly well, what they would change if approaching the same challenge again and what advice they would give to other people looking to take on similar projects.

For first timers, this is the ideal opportunity to see how others go about their various projects – most of our visitors walk away from Case Study seminars with a renewed vigour for their own projects and a passion to get started!

Celebrity Interior Designer Oliver Heath will also be featured in this theatre, giving visitors advice on how to use clever window design to bring more natural daylight into their homes and benefit from solar gains. Courtesy of Velfac.

Theatre 5: Homebase Theatre

Hands-on advice from the DIY experts!

Homebase will br bringing their specialists to the Show to advise you on the finishes touches to your home. Twice a day in the Homebase Theatre, you'll be able to learn how to hang wallpaper, paint and lay flooring just like the pros!

Be sure not to miss the fantastic seminar 'An Eye for Design: Inspirational Ideas for Kitchens & Bathrooms where you'll learn how to design your rooms to not only maximise on space, but also to add value and that 'wow' factor.

Homebase will also be bringing their specialist Kitchen & Bathroom CAD Designers to help you (re)design your rooms for free - they'll also be offering 10% off at Homebase to everyone that visits them in the Design Centre.