Inhabitat’s Pick for Best Designed Booth at Greenbuild 2010!

We were wowed by all of the great products and technologies that were on display on the expo floor this year at <a href="http://www.inhabitat.com/index.php?s=greenbuild">Greenbuild</a>, the largest green building show in the world, but one booth stood out from the crowd for its clever design and use of the promoted product. The Columbia Forest Product booth showcased their <a href="http://www.columbiaforestproducts.com/PureBond.aspx">PureBond</a>® hardwood plywood with an elegantly designed backdrop that caught our attention with its undulating effect and thoughtful use of the product. The plywood is a non-formaldehyde <a href="http://www.fsc.org/about-fsc.html">FSC</a> cabinet grade material that uses a special glue that mimics mussels sticking to rocks in a unforgiving marine environment. Extra points for <a href="http://inhabitat.com/finding-design-inspiration-in-nature-biomimicry-for-a-better-planet/">biomimicry!</a>

The booth was developed by Columbia PureBond's very own marketing manager Joanna Beckman, who was inspired by the <a href="http://www.lifeataqua.com/">Aqua Tower</a> by<a href="http://www.inhabitat.com/index.php?s=studio+gang"> </a><a href="http://www.inhabitat.com/index.php?s=studio+gang">Studio Gang Architects</a>-- just up the way in downtown Chicago.

We have seen countless displays with product samples on a rack so this presentation grabbed our eyes for its seductive design. We had to sneak our own <a href="http://www.inhabitat.com/author/kevin-dalias/">Kevin Dalias</a> into a shot.

The booth was designed to use the cabinet grade plywood as the backdrop itself.

The undulating slates were cut on a CNC machine and then stacked in between posts with plywood disks used as spacers.

The display at the show uses a maple veneer plywood with a poplar core. The sections can pivot to accommodate different sized booth spaces.

From an angle the edges take on organic undulations.

The uncluttered cabinet in the center spoke to a less-is-more aesthetic in an event that <a href="http://www.inhabitat.com/wp-content/plugins/falbum/wp/album.php?album=72157625412471922&amp;page=1&amp;photo=5190223556">screams</a> for attention at every corner.

PureBond® offers formaldehyde free plywood that also can be <a href="http://www.fsc.org/about-fsc.html">FSC </a>certified.

The adhesive is a soy-based glue that was developed based on the <a href="http://www.columbiaforestproducts.com/Content/Documents/WWP_FlexingMusselsArticle.pdf">research</a> of Dr. Kaichang Li, a professor at Oregon State University’s College of Forestry.

Using <a href="http://inhabitat.com/finding-design-inspiration-in-nature-biomimicry-for-a-better-planet/">biomimicry</a> as a starting point he studied how mussels adhere to surfaces under such tough conditions. The isolated proteins were recreated using soy, being both strong and having a natural resistance to water.

The adhesive's benefits of being naturally occurring and non-polluting mean that the glues do not off-gas potentially hazardous formaldehyde.

These nifty printed seed paper handouts were part of the product promotion.

They were also handing out packs of basil seeds with a biodegradable stake promoting Columbia Forestry Products.