Where Design Decisions Take Shape
The Only Event Focused Exclusively on Metal in Construction and Design
This is where architects and designers come to understand what’s changing—and what it means for their next projects.Education, peer exchange, and real-world insight into materials and performance—all in one place.
Experience it all at the Design District @ METALCON,
October 7-9, 2026 | Orange County Convention Center | Orlando, FL
Earn up to a year’s worth of AIA LUs including HSWs
Sponsored by 
What is the Design District?
The Design District brings together focused education, peer exchange, and real-world insight into metal construction. It’s the only place where architects and designers can explore how metal is shaping design, performance, and what gets built next.
Start with Insight. Then See It in action.
The Design District is a dedicated space for architects, designers, specifiers, and engineers—built around education and connection.
Here, you:
- Engage with ideas shaping design, performance, and code requirements
- Earn AIA Learning Units, including HSW credits
- Learn from architects and experts leading real projects
- Connect with peers working through the same challenges
Then you take that perspective onto the show floor to evaluate materials, compare systems, talk directly to experts and see how those ideas are applied across real projects. That’s what makes this experience different.
Explore the Topics Shaping What’s Next
From codes and performance to materials and real-world application, these sessions are designed to help you make better decisions on your next project.
Featured Sessions Include:
- The Hidden Carbon in Metal Buildings
Understand embodied carbon and how early design decisions impact material use, performance, and sustainability. - Metal in Adaptive Reuse: Crafting Community, Transparency, and Identity Through Design-Build
See how metal is being used to transform existing structures into high-performing, community-focused spaces. - Architectural Metal Plate Systems: Durable Design for Today’s Buildings
Explore how metal systems deliver design flexibility, durability, and performance across the building envelope.
Plus: A major code update session—covering what’s changing and what it means for your next project.
All sessions are approved for AIA Learning Units, including HSW credits.
Full Design District agenda coming soon.
What You Walk Away With
You don’t leave with inspiration alone—you leave with direction.
- A clearer understanding of what materials and systems to specify
- Insight into performance, durability, and compliance
- Awareness of what’s emerging and what’s already being used in real projects
- Connections with peers and experts you can continue to learn from
These are the decisions that carry into your projects for the year ahead.
What Matters Now
Materials are evolving. Codes are shifting. Embodied carbon, EPDs, thermal performance — your clients are already asking these questions. The Design District is where you get the answers ahead of the project, not during it.
Who It’s For
- Architects designing for performance, resilience, and aesthetics
- Designers exploring new materials and applications
- Specifiers sourcing compliant, high-performance systems
- Engineers focused on envelope, acoustics, and sustainability
From Learning to Application–Fast
Most events show you products.
METALCON helps you understand them first—then evaluate them with context.
That’s the difference between seeing what’s available and knowing what to use.
Be Where Design Decisions are Made
October 7–9, 2026
Orange County Convention Center · Orlando, FL
Your Design District access goes further.
Registration also includes access to METALCON keynotes, networking events, and 35+ additional education sessions across the show.