Unparalleled Italian design

Hardbrass was born from the entrepreneurial spirit of father Hans Lubbers. "In the mid-1980s my father went farming in Italy," explains Robert-Jan Lubbers. "He discovered door hardware here and saw a nice trade in it. Thanks to his knack for languages, he was able to talk to the manufacturers in Italian, and thus Hardbrass was born." The company began as an agency, but grew into a wholesale business with suppliers from Italy, Denmark and Spain. Hardbrass now supplies 10,000 items from stock in the higher-end door hardware and mailboxes. 

Jubilee and renovation

This year Hardbrass is celebrating its 35th anniversary. The company is doing well. Lubbers: "The manufacturers in Italy have stopped for a while, but despite (and because of) corona we are still growing. The government wants to build a million houses in 10 years and the Dutch are increasingly busy in their own homes, these are positive signs." 

Hardbrass is currently remodeling its showroom and recently introduced a new 240-page hardcover catalog. 

"What characterizes us is that we only work with European partners. As a result, the lines are shorter than with suppliers who depend on Asia." Most of the products come from Italy. "Italian manufacturers supply products that are truly unmatched in workmanship and quality." Lubbers is therefore proud of the addition of the DND brand to Hardbrass' portfolio.

DND new Italian acquisition

"Once I took a tour of Italy and visited the Ferrari museum. Because of my work, I naturally always look at the door handles I come across and those in the museum were quite special. That's how I discovered DND." This is another family business, founded in 1969 and now run by the third generation. They specialize in the production of door hardware and accessories for doors and windows.

DND strives to create Italian and international design and collaborates with designers and architects to do so. "This creates very beautiful products that also suit Dutch tastes. An example is door handle Due, designed by architect Stefano Boeri (known for the Bosco Verticale in Milan, among other things). The door handle and shield create a perfect 90-degree angle. Also special is the Ginkgo Biloba, the shape of this door handle is based on the leaf of the Ginkgo Biloba, designed by Giulio Iacchetti. DND has given this product two technical highlights. Besides hot stamping the product, where brass is stamped into shape under great pressure, the lines of the leaf have been created via CNC engraving.

The real crowd-pleaser from DND's offering, according to Lubbers, is the model (IN)finito by architect Alfonso Femia. This is because the surface extends from door handle to floor. As a result, despite the fact that a door handle is a finisher, the designer makes a connection to the next space.