It was a privilege to join the bustling energy of the NXT BLD London & NXT DEV London events last week — my fifth time attending in-person, and this year the second time coming as an individual rather than an exhibitor. For context, I originally attended as part of the Codesign App-exhibitor team, so this shift in role gave me a fresh vantage point and time to attend many of the talks.

My role & perspective

This year, organiser Martyn Day (of AEC Magazine) invited me to help MC the second stage. Initially I was slated for the second day, but thanks to a last-minute call-up I found myself on the morning session of NXT BLD too. It was fun a full-circle moment for me: going from exhibitor mindset to facing the audience, helping steer the conversation and the flow and getting to listen and see some amazing presentations.

What stood out

There are a few themes and highlights worth capturing:

• The scale and polish of the events were excellent — as always the AEC Magazine team should be proud of what they deliver year on year – it just keeps getting better.
• The dual-show format (BLD + DEV) allows a complementary focus: NXT BLD on build, delivery and construction workflows; NXT DEV on new developments – especially BIM 2.0. That crossover is increasingly important.
• One memorable moment: the evening sponsored by Motif (now out of stealth) — it was great to attend, meet their team and feel the momentum in that “hidden-no-longer” phase.
• An equally strong networking moment was linking up with Arcol who exhibited for the first time, and with the team from Giraffe (having travelled all the way from Australia). That level of global commitment underscores how seriously firms view these gatherings — a massive investment of both time and money.
• And simply: it felt like a proper coming-together of the ecosystem. Lots of ideas, handshake-moments, live demos, new connections.

Why it matters

For me, having been at these shows multiple times, the evolution is clear: what once might have been vendor-floor with product demos is increasingly a forum for strategy, for integration, and for thinking about how firms are going to deliver tomorrow’s projects.

My takeaway

If I were to summarise:

• Show up in person. Even in a world of on-demand/virtual, the face-to-face matters — and events like these underscore it.
• The big value is always in the interstitial spaces: between sessions, over coffee, and in conversations that aren’t on the agenda.
• Invest not just in the event ticket but in your presence: time, energy, follow-up. The Aussie-to-London trip by Giraffe is a case in point – you’ll get back far more than you put in.
• And for vendors / exhibitors: first-time exhibiting (like Arcol) is worthwhile. The exposure, the listening, the connection matter as much as the pitch.

Watching on demand

If you weren’t there in person (or want to revisit), you can catch the sessions via the on-demand portal at the official archive: NXT AEC On Demand (thanks to the organisers for making this available).