My Visit to Sydney Build: Exploring Opportunities for Industrial Design

equipedesign
May 31
6 min read

Updated: Jun 1

As an industrial design consultant, I’m always on the lookout for inspiration, innovation, and collaboration opportunities, both locally and abroad.

One of the best ways to tap into these is by attending events where industries converge. Late last month I visited Sydney Build, Australia's leading construction, architecture, and infrastructure expo.

What began as a general curiosity quickly turned into a valuable insight into how industrial design and in turn industrial designers can intersect with the built environment, and where opportunities lie for growth, partnerships, and impact. This was especially close to home and a reminder from my first Industrial Design role when arriving in Sydney 28 years ago as inhouse designer at Protector Technologies designing Industrial Safety Wear.

The foundation of my career and affinity with Design For Manufacturing.

Innovation in Construction

Sydney Build, held at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Darling Harbour, is a sprawling showcase of the latest in construction technologies, sustainable materials, building automation, architecture, and design and some of the tools utilised to achieve them.

Over two days, it brought together a diverse mix of professionals from architects and engineers to suppliers and entrepreneurs.

As I walked through the expo floor, I was struck by the variety of exhibits.

There were robotics demonstrations, modular building systems, AR and VR tools for design and visualization, tools and equipment and sustainable materials on display. Although the event's core is construction and infrastructure, the relevance to industrial design and the benefit Industrial Design Thinking can bring to this sector of industry is evident.

Industrial Design in the Built Environment

How can industrial design contribute to and benefit from the construction and infrastructure sectors. While industrial design is often associated with consumer products and manufacturing, its principles in human-centred design, aesthetics, functionality, ergonomics are deeply relevant to the built world as people are at the core of its focus and the environments the industry creates for those who inhabit it.

I discovered several exciting intersections:

Smart Furniture & Fixtures: With the rise of smart buildings, there’s a growing demand for smart furniture, lighting systems, security systems and fixtures that are both functional and aesthetically integrated into modern architectural spaces. Industrial designers have a clear role in shaping these products.

Robotics: Robotics and AI are gradually becoming the norm in many parts of our daily lives and the construction industry is not immune. Most evident at the show were the benefits of robotics for over head work like hole drilling and panelling. Having friends in the electrical and plastering industries and seeing the tolls on their bodies from a life time of raising their arms over their heads, I can clearly see the benefits.

Sustainable Materials: The push for environmentally responsible design has led to innovations in materials like recycled plastics, bio-composites, and low-carbon concrete. As designers, we can contribute to the development of sustainable product systems for use in buildings and public infrastructure.

Modular & Prefabricated Construction: Prefab systems are rapidly gaining traction. Here, industrial designers can work on optimising components, enhancing usability, and improving the user experience of modular housing or commercial units.

Public Infrastructure Elements: Everything from street furniture, signage, lighting systems, and urban installations needs to be both durable and user-friendly areas where industrial design principles shine.

Design aesthetic of Lighting Fixtures and the impact of light they shed.

Conversations That Mattered

More than just browsing booths, what truly made the visit meaningful were the conversations I had with exhibitors, speakers, and fellow attendees.

I had a lovely chat with Michael and the team from the Crest Robotics at the

Robotics Australia Group stand.

I had met Michael previously at LEAP Australia CREO 11 Launch event where I presented a piece on CAD UI optimisation.

It was great to talk about what they are achieving locally to contribute to a sustainable and internationally-competitive robotics industry based here in Everley, Sydney, Australia.

On display they showcased their Charlotte ® and Gorilla Mk1 Robotic puller ® robots.

It was wonderful to see these innovations in our own back yard.

Seminars and Workshops: Learning from the experts

Sydney Build also hosted a range of seminars and workshops across multiple stages. I attended several that were particularly relevant to design, such as:

“Designing Cities for the Future”: A thought-provoking panel discussion on how urban environments are evolving and the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration. Industrial design was mentioned frequently in the context of creating inclusive, adaptive spaces.

“The Future of Workspaces”: As workplaces shift post-pandemic, there’s a demand for flexible, tech-integrated, and health-conscious environments. This presents a ripe opportunity for designers to influence furniture, layout systems, and interface points within office environments.

“Women in the Construction Industry”: This is also a topic close to home, being the Dad to two daughters and football coach to 15 more (some of whom are trail blazers entering the engineering sphere) and former Director of Female football at our local community club. Inspiring and promoting females in the once male dominated construction industry can only bring positive outcomes. Bringing personal incite from the female perspective provides positive social advancement in our society. It also creates competitive advantage for businesses when catering better for 51% of the population.

These talks didn’t just inform they inspired. They opened my mind to the challenges being faced across the built environment to cater for a growing, aging population and showed how design thinking could be applied to solve real-world problems.

Opportunities Identified

By the end of the event, I had a head full of ideas, contact information, and further conversations to be had. Here are a few standout opportunities I took away from my visit:

Collaborating with Architects and Engineers: There’s a clear need for designers who can humanise technical systems. From acoustic solutions, HVAC interfaces, robotics and tools and equipment, many components in a building can benefit from industrial design thinking and refinement.

Dewalt - A long time leader in power tools.
Designing for Accessibility and Inclusivity: Australia is pushing for more inclusive public spaces. This opens doors for designing fixtures and systems that cater to users of all abilities.
Smart Product Integration: As buildings become smarter, there’s a growing niche in designing sensors, control panels, and interfaces that blend into environments elegantly.
Industrial Design impact for control panels and systems.
Sustainable Urban Products: With the government’s push toward sustainability, there’s demand for recycled, modular, and locally-produced products for use in urban design and infrastructure.
Start-up Support: Many young companies at the expo had strong tech or engineering backgrounds as the leader but could benefit from product design expertise. There’s potential to partner with or consult for such start ups.
Robotics and AI: The next evolution in society in general is robotics and AI is rapidly developing and the construction industry may be one that can benefit most. Due to the physical nature of the construction industry, many opportunities exist for labour assisting products and devices to not only minimise the physical load on workers but help make them more productive and efficient.

Robotics can come in many forms.

Reflections and Next Steps

Visiting Sydney Build was more than just a curious day out, it was a exploration into how my skills as an industrial designer can make a broader impact. The built environment is evolving rapidly to cater from an ever exploding and aging population and rising living costs, and there’s a pressing need for creative, functional, and sustainable solutions. Industrial design offers just that.

I left the event feeling energised, connected, and with a clearer roadmap for potential collaborations. My next steps include following up with a few of the contacts I made, refining a couple of concept ideas inspired by the visit, and exploring how I can tailor my portfolio to appeal to clients in the construction and infrastructure sectors.

Most of all, the trip reminded me that opportunities for design aren’t only confined to the medical and consumer product industries of my past. They’re in the streets we walk on, the buildings we inhabit, and the public spaces we share.

As industrial designers, we have the chance and the responsibility to help shape these experiences for the better.

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équipe design & consulting is a Product Design Consultant in Sydney with 28 years experience in design and manufacture of Medical grade moulded parts and product, including 5 years at the coal face as Operations Manager at a world class medical grade moulding facility; we are specialist in Design for Manufacture (DFM).

Please reach out if you feel you need assistance with your part design for plastic injection moulding.

We offer Design Coaching and Guidance to Full Service Design Consulting.

www.equipedesign.au

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