Interactive experience showroom for Heylen Ceramics

A place where the physical and digital come together seamlessly

You feel a stone best in real life. But what if that one stone in your hand immediately evokes an entire world of images, construction sites and information? For Heylen Ceramics, we turned the showroom into a place where the physical and digital come together seamlessly - and where customers find inspiration while they choose. 

Experience showroom

For generations, the Heylen family has brought out nothing but the best of what clay has to offer worldwide. Their story is that of a true family business, completely at home in the heart of the Rupel region. The current generation builds on three generations of knowledge of facing bricks and roof tiles to create the construction solutions of tomorrow today. In Antwerp, on 't Eilandje, Matthias Heylen opened an experience showroom. 

Inspiration and information

Heylen has a wealth of visual material: lots of photos of construction sites and completed projects. The question was how to bring that richness to life in the showroom, so that customers not only get a stone in their hands, but also immediately see what can be done with it. Inspiration and information, exactly at the moment the choice is made. 

Connections are key

We developed an interactive application for three large touchscreens in the showroom, each with its own role. 

• The first screen shows the lookbook: all photos of construction sites and completed projects, accessible via a configurator. What makes it special is the link with the physical stone - when someone chooses a stone, the screens automatically display all images and information about that exact stone. 
• The second screen displays the website. 
• The third screen brings together all live content from Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. 

In this way, a tangible choice in the customer's hand immediately drives the digital experience. Technology stays in the background; the stone and the story around it take center stage. 

A tangible conclusion

In Heylen's showroom, customers are immersed in a physical world of stones and a world of inspiring images and additional information. Choosing a stone becomes an experience: the tangible and the digital reinforce each other, and every choice immediately opens a window onto what it can become in real life. In this way, the showroom helps customers choose with confidence and already see their project before it is built.