Founded in 1942, Quincalux is a Belgian manufacturer of premium architectural hardware. The brand produces its collections in its own atelier in Belgium, where traditional craftsmanship and specialist manufacturing techniques remain central to its identity.
COVERED was appointed to develop an experiential brand communication initiative that would bring this craftsmanship to life and strengthen the brand's relationships with leading Belgian architects.
The Challenge: Communicating Craftsmanship Beyond Product Imagery
In the premium architectural hardware market, brands frequently communicate through beautiful photography and claims of exceptional quality or local craftsmanship. When several manufacturers communicate similar values, how can a brand demonstrate that its craftsmanship is genuinely distinctive?
For Quincalux, the answer lay in making its production process visible. The communication challenge was to translate an industrial manufacturing environment into an experience that would resonate with an audience accustomed to the highest standards of design and hospitality.
Rather than concealing the workshop behind a polished brand presentation, COVERED proposed making the atelier itself the centre of the experience.
Objectives
Demonstrate craftsmanship and product quality: Allow architects to experience Quincalux’s materials, manufacturing processes and expertise firsthand.
Build relationships with leading architects: Establish personal connections with a carefully selected group of Belgian (Interior) architects working on high-end projects.
Generate commercial opportunities: Encourage the specification of Quincalux products in future architectural projects.
Strategy: Turning the Manufacturing Atelier into a Brand experience
COVERED developed the concept of an intimate Atelier Dinner, bringing together a curated group of architects for an evening inside Quincalux's working production facility.
Making authenticity tangible
For a manufacturer whose identity is closely connected to its production process, the atelier is one of its strongest communication assets. Opening its doors allows architects to assess the brand's craftsmanship directly: observing the manufacturing techniques, understanding the materials and meeting the people responsible for production.
Creating an environment that encourages relationships
In architecture and interior design, product selection is influenced by more than aesthetics or technical performance. Trust in the manufacturer, familiarity with its capabilities and personal relationships can all contribute to the decision-making process.
COVERED proposed a single long dining table for approximately 20 architects. The intimate format was designed to facilitate genuine conversations between guests and the Quincalux team, while offering architects the opportunity to connect with peers whose work they admired.
Prioritising guest relevance over audience volume
The guest list was central to the strategy. COVERED focused on architects whose projects and design sensibilities aligned with Quincalux's positioning, but also considered relationships between guests. Bringing together professionals who could appreciate one another's work, but who might rarely meet in person, made the invitation valuable beyond the introduction to Quincalux. The underlying principle was that the relevance of the audience mattered more than its size. Outreach was highly personalised, referencing individual practices, recent projects and publications.
Execution: From Atelielier Tour to Intimate Dinner
COVERED coordinated the communication strategy, guest curation and relationship management surrounding the event, working with Quincalux and eventplanner Eline Ros on the overall experience.
Key elements included:
Concept and event strategy: Developing the Atelier Dinner as a format that connected Quincalux's manufacturing identity with its premium architectural positioning.
Guest curation and personal invitations: Identifying relevant Belgian architects, researching their practices and managing individual outreach and attendance.
Event production collaboration: Working with Eline Ros to integrate a carefully designed dinner setting into the functioning industrial atelier.
Atelier tour and demonstrations: Structuring a guided visit that demonstrated the different stages of Quincalux's manufacturing process.
Guest experience and timing: Creating a precise schedule for the welcome reception, workshop tour and dinner, allowing the evening to unfold without unnecessary waiting.
Strategic seating arrangements: Placing architects alongside peers with shared interests and distributing Quincalux representatives throughout the table to encourage conversation.
Exclusive gifts: Developing objects derived from Quincalux products, created specifically for the invited architects and unavailable through the brand's regular collection.
Post-event content: Providing guests with event photography that could be shared through their own social media channels.
Results: from brand experience to commercial interest
The Atelier Dinner welcomed 34 guests, exceeding the initial target of 20 by 70%.
The evening created opportunities for architects to engage directly with Quincalux's production team, experience the brand's manufacturing expertise and develop relationships in an informal setting.
The impact extended beyond the event itself through organic social media visibility, new professional relationships and concrete commercial opportunities.
What Design Brands Can Learn From This Project
Demonstrable expertise is more convincing than repeated claims
Craftsmanship, authenticity and quality are frequently used in premium design communication, but their meaning becomes diluted when brands rely on similar language and imagery. Manufacturers with genuine technical expertise can communicate more convincingly by allowing professional audiences to observe their processes, meet their craftspeople and understand how products are made.
Small-scale events can create substantial commercial value
For design brands working through architects and interior designers, a carefully selected audience can generate stronger professional relationships and more qualified commercial enquiries than a larger, less targeted gathering.
Considered hospitality can support long-term business relationships
Within architecture and design, where project development and specification decisions often unfold over extended periods, relationships are built gradually. An intimate dinner creates space for exchanges that rarely emerge during a conventional product presentation. Thoughtful introductions, considered seating arrangements and a well-managed guest experience can contribute to these relationships without placing immediate commercial pressure on participants.
Photography by Erine WyckmansQuincalux - Brand Communication