Many first time exhibit purchasers have experienced a sort of sticker shock when purchasing new exhibits: “Wow! I could build multiple homes for what it costs to fill my exhibit space!” Their shock is completely understandable. A home is probably the single most expensive item that a person buys in a lifetime and now they are looking at paying many times more than that to create exhibits to place inside a much smaller area in an already constructed building. However, when you take a closer look it makes a lot of sense.

Design.

You can purchase already produced plans (less expensive) or you can hire an architect to design a one-of-a-kind home (more expensive). With an architect the home is unique and the client has input on many aspects of the design, including where the kitchen goes and how big to make the master bedroom. Designing exhibits is more like the latter method. Each project is one of a kind with a unique story to tell in a very distinct way. The ability to create an idea from scratch adds to the price of the design process. And exhibit design also adds the extra layer of including text and graphics to help tell the story. Wouldn’t your house be more costly if you had to create text and graphics to tell the story of each room? This extra layer of complexity adds cost to the design process that would not appear even in the design of a unique home.

Materials.

Homes are made of the basic materials building materials that can be purchased at numerous box stores or lumber yards. Even though some basic materials are used in exhibit production, so are many specialty items. Specialty plastics and resins are used for models and life-cast figures to give them a realistic look that will last for years. Specialty lumber is also used to meet more strict fire codes than required in most home construction. Specialty paints are used to meet durability standards. They are much more expensive than the latex paint used to paint walls at home. Think of these specialty items as the fixtures and flooring in your home. You may be able to control part of the cost (like not installing granite countertops and the most expensive flooring), but you don’t want the cheapest option either. You do get what you pay for. Specialty items are not cheap and can add cost to the overall project that may not be encountered when building a home.

Audio Visuals.

Most times people don’t include TVs and computers in the price of their home. However many exhibits use similar technology and it is included in the price. Beyond the hardware costs an exhibit might also have specially created movies or software for touch screen interactives. That’s like having a TV show produced only for your home. Get the picture?

It may be shocking, but designing and building an engaging, durable exhibit is not as easy or inexpensive as building an off-the-shelf home, or two!

For a more in-depth look at exhibit costs attend TSI’s webinar “That Exhibit Cost 3X My House”