Interbuild’s dedicated show feature for building designers – the Architects’ Forum – attracted its strongest ever speaker line up this year with contributions from practices including Zaha Hadid, Gensler and AHMM.

Day 4 at the UK’s largest building show introduced a breakfast briefing to announce new industry research, which identifies some key areas of the market where there are prime opportunities for architects, even in the midst of the credit crunch.

Firstly, with the Government planning to ‘front load’ construction spending there will be lucrative public sector opportunities with those practices involved in schools, housing and hospital projects.

The briefing also highlighted that increased investment has been earmarked for the Building Schools for the Future initiative and more work is also anticipated from the new Homes and Communities Agency (formerly English Partnerships and the Housing Corporation).

There are even signs that it’s not all doom and gloom in the housebuilding industry with developers like Berkley Homes indicating that they are still buying land, suggesting future optimism in this hard-hit sector.

Smaller developers which are not exposed to property or land write downs are forecast to provide a consistent flow of work for architects and even in the leisure sector, brands such as Wetherspoons are expecting to grow its successful pub restaurant chain.

Meanwhile, the capital muscle of the Middle East is expected to loom large with huge current demand for the UK’s expertise in architecture, design and masterplanning set to continue for many years yet. Qatar and Abu Dhabi are set to lead the way, although Dubai may slow down with some fears of over-development in recent years.

Sam Matthews, Head of Marketing at Interbuild, says: “The show is about networking, debate and delivering real market insights that visitors can apply to their own businesses.

“Hopefully, we’ve proven that Interbuild is a valuable source of information, which can help architecture practices and other firms overcome their economic challenges.”

Interbuild 2008 takes place at the Birmingham NEC from Sunday 26th to Thursday 30th October.

Email: victoria.toole@iasb2b.com