The Koepel is a household name in the Netherlands, a national monument with an eventful history. But in addition to that, around the Koepel itself is a vast complex that needs to be redesigned. At this unique location within the city center, Breda wants to combine top urban qualities together with social values.

The complex is owned by the Central Government Real Estate Agency that currently wants to sell it. The municipality has agreed that the city and the city council have a lot of space and influence on the innovative interpretation of this important part of the city center. The plan must be truly unique and add something to the city while fitting the Breda Story: Green, Limitless and Hospitable. In the accompanying “Nota van Uitgangspunten”, the municipality outlines the context for a transformation of the Koepel complex.

Play the Koepel is a unique game designed specifically for this development. It offers stakeholders the opportunity to both interact with each other and provide them with inspiration. Participants are actually building with different "elements" for a possible future interpretation of the Koepel complex. During the game, various interests and components of area development are discussed as we zoom in on this beautiful part of the city, right in our historic center.

On September 1 2020, various stakeholders from Breda and throughout the Netherlands, come to play, Play the Koepel; including developers, investors, public parties, residents, housing corporations, and also companies from both the technological corner and the creative sector. After a short walk around the site, a short explanation of the game rules will be given by the game developer Dr. Ekim Tan. The results of the city consultation by game has been included in the the “Nota van Uitgangspunten” issued the city council of Breda. The City of Breda provided the input for the current land owner Central Government Real Estate Agency who will then start to find a new owner and developer for the complex.

Play the Koepel is a multi-stakeholder table game. The game portrays the Koepel complex and its surroundings by means of a 1 to 300 scale game board in order to spatially test innovative programs. Innovative space programming is offered to players through 3D building blocks and strategy maps that let players choose which sustainable transformations they envision in this area. The game uses data to provide players with information relevant to their decisions. This data is indicated in various ways:

On the game board:

Land use

Infrastructure (public transport, cycle paths, parking, ...)

Important places and future plans in the area

Preconditions based on draft “Nota van Uitgangspunten”

Heritage requirements

On 3D building blocks:

Desired program as a library of game pieces, m2 and price

[water, energy, greenery, buildings, mobility, public space].

On strategy maps:

[water, energy, waste, housing, mobility, smart city strategies]