ost exhibitors want to talk shop at a trade show, but Toronto-based exhibit house Rhoddy Design Inc. actually brought its shop to the show floor – or pieces of it, at least. As the company was planning its booth for EXHIBITOR2013, it was also designing a new office space for itself. The two projects collided to create an industrial office space turned exhibit that was as much a study in reuse as in cohesive, industrial design.

But two new projects don't necessarily call for new materials. Rhoddy eschewed virgin goods, instead choosing to create the exhibit's focal points using objects reclaimed from its local environment. For instance, each of the exhibit's four hemlock beams were reclaimed from a 150-year-old barn, and the floorboards on its raised platform were harvested from weathered barn siding. Overhead, caged Edison bulbs were connected with black gas-pipe fittings to create a chandelier that matched the exhibit's overall industrial-chic vibe.

The focal point of both Rhoddy's repurposing efforts and the exhibit itself, however, was a 57-by-118-inch conference table. The statement piece – constructed from pallets used at an early 20th-century brickyard – made its debut at EXHIBITOR2013 before finding its home in Rhoddy's boardroom. Exhibit Design Awards judges praised the unusual material choices, and especially the decision to leave the bare concrete partially exposed. "That's one flooring option exhibitors almost never choose," one judge said. "But in this particular case it was a unique and entirely appropriate choice."

While the exhibit's eye-catching details were impressive, even more remarkable was the fact that they were constructed within the constraints of a scant $26,000 budget. But this meager figure was more than enough to create a sophisticated yet rugged display that felt more like an urban loft than a temporary exhibit.