ORLANDO — Meeting the needs of nearly 117,000 registrants and 2,250 exhibitors that are packed into 1.15 million square feet of indoor and outdoor space requires tremendous work and coordination.
To ensure the success of the massive 2026 Design & Construction Week (DCW), leaders from the National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) International Builders’ Show® (IBS) and the National Kitchen & Bath Association’s (NKBA) Kitchen and Bath Industry Show® (KBIS) collaborated to meet the needs of all stakeholders.
The event took place Feb. 17-19, 2026, at the Orange County Convention Center and will be the last show to be held in Orlando before it moves full-time to Las Vegas.
Early in 2013, NKBA and NAHB announced an agreement to co-locate KBIS with IBS in Las Vegas in February 2014 under the banner of DCW. This year, the two organizations recognized 13 years of collaboration.
“There were undeniable benefits for our exhibitor and attendee audiences when the two shows co-located. Previously some exhibitors were at both shows, and they found value in that,” Geoff Cassidy, Chief Revenue Officer, NAHB, said. “But when we combined forces, they could interact with both shows’ audiences while only needing to exhibit once. Clearly, this speaks to the logic behind doing this from an exhibitor’s perspective. Flipping it, attendees are able to see a much broader swath of products and services with an investment of just three days out of the office instead of making two separate trips.”
Success Drives Continued Agreement
The strategy of “Two Shows One Great Week” is working so well for the associations that the co-located concept has been extended through 2030. Also, NKBA and NAHB inked a long-term agreement to host DCW at the Las Vegas Convention Center through 2039.
The location meets the needs of the show with expanded exhibit space, more meeting rooms and enhanced community infrastructure in areas such as hotel capacity and transportation.
“NKBA enjoys a great relationship with NAHB, and one of the early learnings that kicked off the partnership was a recognition that each organization brought something unique to the table,” Deb Webb, Executive Vice President, Operations and KBIS, NKBA, said. “KBIS skews more towards the interior design community, and IBS has a lot of influence with home builders and construction professionals. Outside of celebrating each other’s strengths, we share common goals of showcasing remarkable design and technology while inspiring our future leaders.”
Meeting the Needs of Stakeholders
DCW is the largest annual gathering of residential construction and design industry professionals in the world. It spotlights new products, industry experts and numerous networking opportunities.
“The members of NAHB and NKBA have always been very proud of their respective events,” Cassidy said. “Which meant that there was a cultural component that we needed to be aware of and had to balance, leading to a co-location with the two shows retaining their individual identities rather than a merger. That’s where we developed, among other things, the ‘DCW’ overarching brand to help head off concerns that either show might be subsumed by the other.”
Representing more than 140,000 members, the NAHB is a Washington-based trade association involved in home building, remodeling, multifamily construction, property management, subcontracting, design, housing finance, building product manufacturing and other aspects of residential and light commercial construction.
The NKBA is headquartered in Bethlehem, Pa., with nearly 55,000 members representing all segments of the kitchen and bath industry. NKBA has educated and led the industry since the association’s founding in 1963.
“We look at teamwork through the lens of building relationships, which are formed around communication, trust, transparency and respect. We are really proud of our relationship with NAHB, with the mutual goal that all of our work supports growth and drives the industry forward,” Webb said. “We look forward to many more cycles of DCW with our friends at the NAHB.”
Next year’s co-located show will return to the Las Vegas Convention Center and run from Feb. 2–4, 2027.
To get more events industry news, subscribe to TSE’s free e-newsletter on LinkedIn or through your email.
Photo Credit: © Nick Hagen Photography
