Official Surface Design Show highlights · ISF featured
This is not an ISF advert. It’s the show’s own film — and the Framework appears inside it, in real time, as part of London’s material conversation.
Every glimpse of our stand comes from years of stands, walls and questions across the UK and Europe. Scroll to see how those moments turned into the method you now find on the Framework page.
Every principle in the ISF Framework was shaped in public — exhibitions, Studio trials and live projects where architects and applicators tested real systems, not prototypes.
Questions were blunt: “Can this go in a shower?”, “What about floors?”, “How does it clean?”, “Who is responsible if it fails?”. Each conversation refined a process; each wall tested an idea. This page traces that evolution — fieldwork turned into the method you now see on the main Framework page.
“Exhibitions became proof loops — each one sending a stronger method back into training and onto site.”
The National Painting & Decorating Show is the largest gathering of professional decorators in the UK. Coventry is where ISF stood inside the trade’s own world and asked a simple question: “How do you really want these systems to work on site?”
Across 2023, 2024 and 2025, Coventry is where “education before distribution” and the idea of Levels moved from instinct to non‑negotiable rules inside the Framework.
The wake‑up call — beautiful systems were not enough without structure and education.
Why this year mattered
Coventry 2023 was our wake‑up call. We brought Italian systems into the UK’s main decorator show and let them be judged in real trade light — not in a showroom.
Who we were listening to
Working decorators, crew leaders and business owners who carry the risk when a system fails on site.
Blunt questions
What changed in the Framework
Coventry 2023 made it clear that without structure, even the best chemistry would not be enough. It planted the seed of Academy Levels and access rules — systems must be taught, not just sold.
Turning instinct into protocol — Levels and cycles presented as the way in.
Why this year mattered
When we returned in 2024, we didn’t just bring finishes; we brought structure. Conversations moved from tins to Levels and cycles — from decorative foundations through to continuous, waterproof bodies.
Who we were listening to
Experienced decorators, crew leaders and business owners looking for systems they could rely on, price and repeat.
Blunt questions
What changed in the Framework
Levels stopped being an internal idea and became shared language. The rule became clear: if we can’t explain a system clearly at Coventry, we are not ready to release it. Cycles, risk and installer responsibility were put on the wall, not in the small print.
The year the message to installers became unmistakable: join the Official Valpaint | ISF Applicator Network, learn the systems properly, then carry them into projects with full support.
Why this year mattered
In 2025 the stand carried a single, clear message for installers: join the Official Valpaint | ISF Applicator Network.
Who we were listening to
Decorators who wanted a structured route into advanced systems — training, proof and repeatable work, not one‑off experiments.
Blunt questions
What changed in the Framework
The QR on every catalogue back and on the stand led to one place — a structured route into the Framework with Levels, training dates and support. Years of conversation became measurable action: real decorators, scanning in real time, joining a national network built on the systems they had just seen on the walls.
Surface Design Show at the Business Design Centre is where architects, interior designers and specifiers come to see serious materials. For three consecutive years, it has been the place where the ISF Framework has been tested, sharpened and recognised in the centre of London’s design ecosystem.
In 2023 we arrived with surface families. In 2024 we joined Studio, Academy and Network into one story. By 2025 the show itself placed ISF inside its official highlight film. Together, these years forged the architectural language you now see across our main pages.
Where the four decorative families and the Framework story were first put in front of architects and interior designers under London’s design light.
Why these years mattered
At SDS 2023 we grouped finishes into four architectural families — Designer Plaster, Metallic & Industrial, Silk & Suede and Artistic Textures — instead of effect names. Designers responded to this material language immediately: concrete next to timber, metal next to stone, silk next to glass.
Who we were listening to
Design practices, independent designers and FF&E/spec teams comparing options for real projects with budgets, timings and compliance to consider.
Blunt questions
What changed in the Framework
The four families were fixed, zones and bodies became part of the standard conversation, and the Studio–Academy–Network story was fed into a single method. We stopped talking about “effects” and started talking in building logic.
The year the show’s own film placed ISF inside its narrative — the Framework recognised in the centre of London’s surface story.
Why this year mattered
By SDS 2025 the Framework had matured: surface families clearly defined, Studio–Academy–Network fully in place and projects delivered using the same sequences.
Who we were listening to
Design teams looking for proven systems rather than new effects, and for partners who could support them from sample to site.
Blunt questions
What changed in the Framework
The story was no longer “new product”, but “proven system”. That is the context in which the official Surface Design Show highlight film included ISF as part of its own narrative — the show’s view of who belongs in London’s material conversation.
The Homebuilding & Renovating shows at ExCeL, NEC and Harrogate bring together self-builders, renovators and developers with real projects, real budgets and real timelines. These conversations took the Framework out of theory and into bathrooms, floors and stair cores that have to work every day.
Here is where Waterproof Artistic Surfaces and the Italian Microcement System had to answer hard questions: cleaning, underfloor heating, children and guests, renters, dog claws, bar stools and commercial cleaners. These shows forced the systems to be practical as well as beautiful.
Where “microcement bathrooms” met real questions about waterproofing, cleaning and lifespan.
Why this year mattered
At ExCeL London the conversations were direct: “We want a microcement bathroom — is it really waterproof?”, “Can we clean it easily?”, “What about kids and guests?”.
Who we were listening to
Homeowners, designers and small developers comparing systems against tiles, stone and traditional bathrooms.
Blunt questions
What changed in the Framework
We used these conversations to separate the continuous waterproof body from the decorative finishes that sit on top. This was the early shape of Waterproof Artistic Surfaces — body first, finish second.
Repetition as proof — returning with a clearer Waterproof Artistic Surfaces story and seeing it land faster.
Why this year mattered
By ExCeL 2025 we were meeting visitors who had seen the Framework the year before and were now mid‑project or planning the next one. Questions moved from “Is this possible?” to “How exactly do we sequence it?”.
Who we were listening to
Repeat visitors, architects and builders already committed to waterproof surfaces and looking for detail.
Blunt questions
What changed in the Framework
The return to ExCeL confirmed that the Waterproof Artistic Surfaces message is repeatable and understood — not a one‑off experiment. The cycles shown at the stand became the reference for drawings and specifications.
Where the Italian Microcement System was forced to answer hard questions about floors and stairs.
Why this year mattered
At the NEC, questions quickly moved to floors and stairs: dog claws, high heels, bar stools, coffee spills, commercial cleaners and underfloor heating.
Who we were listening to
Builders, developers and designers planning large continuous floors and circulation spaces.
Blunt questions
What changed in the Framework
The Italian Microcement System had to show it could cope with real traffic, not just look good on day one. Screed design, moisture, reinforcement, top coats and cleaning regimes all became part of the standard conversation.
Precision at national scale — partnerships turning into concrete floors, stairs and bathrooms.
Why this year mattered
By NEC 2025, many of the conversations that started in 2024 had turned into live projects: continuous floors, stairs and bathrooms installed using the same sequences shown on the stand.
Who we were listening to
National‑scale partners aligning their specifications and details with the Framework.
Blunt questions
What changed in the Framework
NEC 2025 confirmed that the Italian Microcement System, as part of the Framework, can operate nationally without losing technical discipline — from screed design through to maintenance schedules.
Northern light and local craft — proof that the Framework is national, not just a London experiment.
Why this year mattered
Harrogate pushed the Framework into the North of England. The questions were the same — waterproofing, cleaning, substrates, trades — but the network and supply routes were different.
Who we were listening to
Northern builders, decorators, designers and homeowners working outside London’s supply chains, but wanting the same level of support and clarity.
Blunt questions
What changed in the Framework
Harrogate confirmed that demand for systems, not tins, is genuinely UK‑wide. It validated that the Studio–Academy–Installer Network model can support regional projects as well as London work, and highlighted where we needed to strengthen northern routes.
Italian research, German precision and British application — the Framework measured against a wider European conversation on surfaces and systems.
Why this year mattered
FAF Cologne is a European fair for facade and interior systems — where coatings, plasters and technical bodies are judged on durability, documentation and compatibility as much as appearance.
Who we were listening to
Italian and German manufacturers, European applicators and technical teams comparing systems across borders.
Blunt questions
What changed in the Framework
In Cologne the Framework sat alongside Italian and German manufacturers. Questions focused on moisture, movement, substrate compatibility, maintenance and long‑term performance — less on mood, more on technical truth. Cologne 2024 confirmed that the language of bodies, zones, maintenance and Levels stands up beyond UK marketing and fits comfortably inside a serious European systems conversation.
These shows are not a scrapbook. They are the public record of how the Framework was built — questioned by thousands of people and refined wall by wall. What that means depends on how you meet ISF.
Designers & architects
Every cycle you see on the Framework page has already been challenged by architects and designers at Surface Design Show and Homebuilding & Renovating. The language of families, bodies and zones was sharpened in those conversations, not invented in isolation.
Installers & craftspeople
Academy Levels and access rules came directly from conversations at Coventry and other trade events. The training route you see today is built around real installers’ concerns about risk, responsibility and workmanship — not a theoretical curriculum.
Homeowners, developers & clients
The way we talk about Waterproof Artistic Surfaces, Italian Microcement, maintenance and cleaning was shaped by years of questions at ExCeL, NEC and Harrogate. When we discuss expectations and lifespan with you, it is grounded in those real-world conversations.
Manufacturers & brands
If you are a system manufacturer, this fieldwork is what makes the Framework a serious home for your products. Exhibitions showed us how to integrate chemistry, training and delivery into one method that protects both craft and brand value in the UK.
Specifiers & project teams
The Framework gives you a single language across Studio, Academy and site. Exhibitions proved which parts of that language land clearly — and which needed rewriting — before they ever reached your drawings.
ISF itself
For us, this timeline is our heritage. We do not claim centuries of history; we claim years of visible, documented fieldwork — the part you cannot copy overnight.
Exhibitions are how the Framework was built. The pages below are where you work with it today — in real projects, training and specifications.
The Framework page
See how the six surface types, Studio, Academy and Installer Network fit together into one method.
London Studio
Visit the space where the same systems that appeared at shows live on real walls at 1:1 scale.
ISF Academy
Explore the Levels that grew from Coventry and other trade events — the educational spine of the Framework.
Architectural finishes
Browse the four decorative families and two continuous bodies that were defined and refined in the field.
Brand collaborations
See how other manufacturers have chosen to enter the UK through this Framework and its learn-first model.
Installer Network
Learn what it means to work within the Framework as an ISF-aligned applicator.
A system taught in the Academy, proven on site and refined with every wall we build.
Training → Proof → Standard. Exhibitions keep the loop public, so specifiers, installers and clients can rely on outcome — not luck.