Sea-Air-Space 2027 · April 4–7, 2027 · Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, National Harbor
Sea-Air-Space 2027 booth design & build in National Harbor
Custom and rental exhibits for maritime, naval and defense technology companies, built so a program office understands your capability from the aisle. Protected model mounts, approved-content graphics, private briefing space, and Audie Exhibitor Services drayage handled by our on-site team on the Gaylord's carpet.
- April 4–7, 2027
- Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center
Every last fee listed upfront, in full, on paper. 3,000+ exhibitors · 10,000+ booths built · 4.9★ client rating · Since 2015
Built by Purple Exhibits for 4 Marine Services LLC · inline booth
01 Purple at Sea-Air-Space 2027
What makes Sea-Air-Space different, and how we build for it
Sea-Air-Space is the Navy League's Global Maritime Exposition, and the floor is built around program decisions rather than retail browsing. The SECNAV Keynote Address, the Sea Services Luncheon and the Michelson and Nimitz Awards bring flag officers and senior civilians into the Gaylord National, and the 4-Star sponsor list, BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, HII, General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman among them, sets the visual bar in the Maryland Exhibit Hall and the Prince George's Exhibit Hall. The STEM Expo and the Transition Connection Hiring Event add students and transitioning service members to the aisles. Your booth has to brief a program office in ninety seconds, then hold an international delegation for a longer conversation without leaving the aisle edge unattended.
A single model or console that shows where your capability sits in the platform, labeled in their language, and a host who can move them from the aisle to a scheduled conversation in under a minute.
A short guided walk through the exhibit with approved visuals only, seating for a group of six to ten, and a quiet spot for a translator and a business card exchange.
Hardware they can inspect up close, a system diagram that shows the interface, and a technical specialist on the floor who can answer supplier questions on the spot.
Your team in National Harbor
Two shops, one project manager, every hall
We build in our own production shop in Fishkill, NY and our Las Vegas hub, ship to the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, and install with our own project manager on the floor and vetted local labor. Predictable 30–45-day turnarounds, secure storage and pre-show QA.
Your team lands to a lit, stocked booth. You just show up.
02 Booths & pricing for Sea-Air-Space 2027
Pick a footprint. We price it as a rental, a custom build, or a hybrid.
Sea-Air-Space is an island show at the top end, with the primes taking large footprints in the Maryland Exhibit Hall and the Prince George's Exhibit Hall, and a dense run of inline booths for suppliers, shipyards and sensor companies. Exhibitors here usually choose a 10×20 with a single hero model or a 20×20 with a meeting core.
One protected ship or system model on a lit plinth, a capability graphic behind it and a stool for the host.
Shown: SunUs, a Purple inline booth
See 10×10 rental booths →
A hero model or console with a screen for the specialist's diagram, plus a small table for a scheduled program conversation.
Shown: ABC Compressors, a Purple inline booth
See 10×20 rental booths →
A central platform display, two capability briefing points on the aisle edges and an enclosed meeting room for delegations under a hanging sign.
Shown: Trillium, a Purple island exhibit
See 20×20 rental booths →
Multiple platform or mission stories, hosted meeting rooms, a demo station with live playback and storage for models and crates.
Shown: Eonmetall, a Purple island exhibit
See 20×30 rental booths →In Purple's price
- Design and a 3D rendering, revised until it is right
- Structure, printed graphics, counters and storage as specified
- Lighting and power distribution inside the booth
- Installation and dismantle, with our project manager on the floor
- Every show-service order and deadline tracked for you
Billed by the show and its contractor
- Booth space (paid to the organizer)
- Material handling / drayage
- Electrical service, internet and rigging
- Booth cleaning and any union labor the venue requires
We estimate every one of these on your proposal, so the total is on paper before you sign.
All-in 2026 ranges for design, structure, graphics, installation and dismantle. A custom-built booth runs roughly $100 to $250 per square foot depending on finish level. A rental of the same footprint usually lands at 35 to 50 percent of the purchase price for one show. Get an exact number for Sea-Air-Space with the booth cost calculator or read the 2026 booth cost guide.
Send the show, your booth size and what the space needs to do. We reply within one business day and send a rendering and a fixed proposal, usually within a week. No charge.
03 Built by Purple
Booths we have designed, built and installed
Case study · Shapoorji Pallonji
Shapoorji Pallonji at engineering and infrastructure exhibition
A structured, powerful booth for a global engineering group founded in 1865, built to communicate scale, trust and engineering excellence.
Read the Shapoorji Pallonji case study All case studies →“They handle everything end to end so clients can really just show up and not worry about anything. Doesn’t get any better than that.”
Tess Bockes, Exit King Realty · more client reviews
Trusted by exhibitors including
04 Designing for maritime, naval and defense technology companies at Sea-Air-Space
Four things we get right for Sea-Air-Space exhibitors
1Let the model orient, not explain
We decide with you what the model must reveal, a platform, an installation point or a system relationship, then set viewing angles and labels for that one job. The nearby screen carries the detail so the plinth stays clean and the object reads from the aisle.
2Keep public content and private talk apart
Approved demonstrations sit on the open aisle edge; scheduled conversations move inside. We build the enclosed room for privacy of conversation, not for classified material, and we put every graphic through your public-release approval before it goes to print.
3Engineer the mount before the graphics
We take the scale, weight, removable features and mounting points of every model and design the plinth, case and lighting together. Fragile ship and aircraft models get fitted foam crates and a defined installation order so the model lands before the furniture.
Put a host at the meeting point
Models, simulations and hands-on interfaces invite the question of how a capability fits. We place a knowledgeable host where the physical display and the technical story meet, with a rehearsed offline presentation ready if the network drops.
Concept rendering
Every proposal comes with a rendering like this
You see the booth in 3D before we cut a single panel: layout, graphics, lighting and product positions, revised until it is right. Shown: a Purple concept for Erzi.
Start my Sea-Air-Space concept05 Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center · National Harbor
Logistics for Sea-Air-Space 2027, handled
The Gaylord National is a hotel, so every Sea-Air-Space booth goes up on ballroom carpet with floor protection, and exhibits spread across five areas, the Maryland Exhibit Hall, the Prince George's Exhibit Hall, the Potomac Lobby, the Prince George's Terrace and the Prince George's Lobby, each with its own move-in and move-out window. Audie Exhibitor Services runs material handling, and we plan drayage at about $170 per hundredweight with a 200-pound minimum. We read the exhibitor kit, file every form, book your Audie targets, ship to the advance warehouse and install with our on-site team. Your team stays in the 2,000 on-site rooms, twenty minutes from Reagan National.
Hall rules, drayage estimates and freight deadlines for this building are in our Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center exhibitor guide.
What Purple handles
- Exhibitor kit, Audie Exhibitor Services orders and target dates
- Model mounts, protective cases and a defined installation order
- Graphics printed in house and proofed against your approved release
- Freight to the advance warehouse and drayage on the Gaylord's carpet
- Installation, dismantle and return shipping with our on-site team
Timeline, counted back from move-in
- Late January 2027Design sign-off, model mounting drawings approved and public-release graphics locked.
- February 2027Production in Fishkill, NY; plinths, cases and lighting tested with your actual models.
- Mid-March 2027Booth and crated models ship to the Audie Exhibitor Services advance warehouse.
- April 2–4, 2027Move-in by area; our on-site team installs, sets models and runs the pre-show checklist.
- April 4–7, 2027Show days; a Purple project manager is on call for the whole run.
- April 7–8, 2027Dismantle in your area's window, models repacked in fitted crates, booth to storage or the next show.
Sea-Air-Space exhibitor questions
Questions exhibitors ask us before Sea-Air-Space
How much does a 20×20 at Sea-Air-Space cost?
A 20×20 custom island lands between $50,000 and $120,000 all in for design, structure, graphics and installation, and a 20×20 rental between $16,000 and $40,000. Custom model mounts, AV and an enclosed meeting room move the number; send us your model list and we return a fixed quote.
Can you install at the Gaylord National?
Yes. We install on the Gaylord's carpet every season with floor protection, work the separate windows for the Maryland Exhibit Hall, the Prince George's Exhibit Hall and the lobby areas, and set fragile models ourselves before the surrounding furniture goes in.
Can we rent a booth for Sea-Air-Space?
Yes. A 10×20 rental with your graphics runs $7,500 to $15,000 and a 10×30 rental $12,000 to $22,000. Many first-time Sea-Air-Space exhibitors rent the structure and add a custom plinth and case for the one model that carries the story.
When do we need to decide?
Design sign-off by late January gives a comfortable 30 to 45-day build, time for your public-release approval on every graphic, and a mid-March ship date. Later is possible; the trade-off is model-mount engineering time and freight cost.
Do you handle Audie Exhibitor Services orders and drayage?
Yes. We order material handling, electrical and rigging through Audie Exhibitor Services, book your targets, ship to the advance warehouse and keep you copied on every deadline so nothing depends on a form you did not know about.
Before you sign with anyone
Five questions to ask any exhibit builder for Sea-Air-Space:
- Is every fee on the proposal, including what the show contractor bills?
- Who builds the booth: your own shop or a subcontractor?
- Will your project manager be on the floor for install and dismantle?
- What exactly is in the rental, and what is billed by the show?
- Where does the booth go after the show, and what does storage cost?
Common situations
Already own a booth? We refresh the graphics, repair what is worn, ship it, install it and store it between shows. You keep the structure you paid for.
Exhibiting from outside the US? We are your team on the ground: freight to the advance warehouse, show-service orders, installation and storage, with one project manager answering your emails in your time zone.
Short on time? A rental with your graphics can be ready in two to three weeks. We tell you on the first call what is realistic for your date.
Get a proposal
Tell us about your Sea-Air-Space booth
What happens next
- We reply within one business day with questions about your products, goals and footprint.
- You get a concept rendering and a fixed proposal, usually within a week. Every last fee listed upfront, in full, on paper.
- We build in 30–45 days, ship to the advance warehouse and install before the hall opens.