What It Takes to Go Two Stories at an Outdoor Event

Going up is worth it when the plot is fixed or premium and you need more room than the ground gives you. It also pays off when sightlines matter and you want guests looking out over a crowd or a field.

Some teams add a level to separate zones, like business below and hospitality above, without expanding the footprint. A single deck can carry demo space on the ground floor and a private lounge above it, all inside one build.

This shows up often at structures for sporting events, festival exhibits, and road show exhibits, where space is tight and visibility is the whole point. 

Teams weighing temporary structures for outdoor events against a permanent build usually land here first, since the elevated option solves the space problem without a year-round commitment.

Not sure yet which product fits your event? Start with Questions About Our Outdoor Event Structures, Answered before diving into feasibility.

The Engineering Behind an Elevated Outdoor Structure

An outdoor deck has to hold people and withstand weather, so engineers design it to meet defined loads from the start. A quality system carries a certified active live load (Highmark Techsystems’ decks are rated at 100 pounds per square foot), and a third-party structural engineer reviews and stamps each project for wind and live loads.

Wind resistance matters most outdoors. Premium structures can handle far more wind than a standard tent tolerates, where crews often pull tents down around 40 to 50 miles per hour. Highmark structures have a wind resistance of up to 115 mph. 

That’s a meaningful gap from multi story tent structures with aluminum guardrails, which lean on lightweight framing and generally carry lower wind ratings than an engineered deck system.

A multi-deck event structure built for outdoor use also differs from an indoor exhibit platform in how it handles exposure. Outdoor decks need weatherproofing, drainage, and anchoring that an indoor build never has to consider. For full component and finish detail, check the EventMAX spec FAQ.

Permits, Approvals, and Who Signs Off

This is the part planners underestimate. Requirements vary by jurisdiction, so treat what follows as the general shape rather than a rule for your city.

Builders typically construct elevated event structures to the current International Building Code, and the local authority having jurisdiction, often the fire marshal in the event’s county, sets the terms on site. 

The venue’s show manual usually spells out what documentation the event needs.

Some jurisdictions draw a hard line on what is considered a permanent structure, which affects the paperwork before the build even starts. A good structure partner will make everything clear, supplying stamped structural and wind drawings for the permit file. 

Confirm specifics with your local authority and a licensed engineer before you commit to dates.

Highmark can handle the engineering and permit drawings for you.

How Occupancy is Decided

Occupancy on an elevated event deck isn’t a fixed number. The local fire marshal generally sets it based on total square footage and the number of exits, since the real question is how many people can safely get down and clear the area in an emergency.

As a rough illustration, a small deck with a single staircase or under 300 square feet often carries a low maximum occupancy. More egress and more square footage raise that number, so plan staircases early. They drive both occupancy and layout.

Occupancy limits also shift with how you plan to use each level. A ground floor set up for a demo crowd and a second floor built for a smaller hospitality group can carry two different occupancy numbers on the same structure.

Anchoring by Surface

Outdoor events rarely hand you a clean concrete pad. A well-designed outdoor event structure anchors to whatever surface you actually have.

Options generally include ground stakes, threaded concrete anchors, or ballast. Some systems are engineered to sit securely on turf, concrete, asphalt, or sand without staking or weighting in many conditions.

The surface and the local wind exposure decide the method, so share the venue and ground type with your partner up front.

Mixed-surface sites add another wrinkle. A footprint that spans a paved lot and an adjacent grass field may need two anchoring methods on the same build, so flag any surface changes to your partner before install day, not after.

Setup, Labor, and Timeline

Modular decks are built on a repeating grid (Highmark uses a 16-by-16-foot module), and that grid is what lets the same inventory scale from a single unit to a large multi-story footprint. A qualified install crew, often an Exhibitor Appointed Contractor, handles installation and dismantle.

Larger builds can require forklifts and scissor lifts with certified operators. Ask your partner to recommend a certified crew and to keep a supervisor on site. Build the install and teardown windows into your event schedule instead of building your schedule around them.

Planners often ask how to configure event space with modular structures effectively, and the grid system is the answer. Because the module repeats, a partner can reconfigure the same inventory into a different footprint, level count, or staircase placement from one event to the next without ordering new parts.

Permanent Structure vs. Temporary Structure: How Long Can It Stay Up