A Good Sport
Amersfoort-Koppelbrug (NL) - Lauréat
TEAM PORTRAIT
VIDEO (by the team)
INTERVIEW
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1. How do you define the main issues of your project in relation with the theme “Re-sourcing”? Re-sourcing thanks to nature, to social dynamics, to new materiality? In which way do you think your project can contribute to an ecological and/or social evolution? And in which way do you think your project can be called a “regenerative project”?
Re-sourcing begins with recognizing that the Netherlands faces multiple challenges at once: disappearing sports facilities, housing shortage, and loss of biodiversity. A Good Sport addresses these together through intensification—stacking and connecting three seemingly unrelated programs, a sports hall, parking and housing, to unlock maximum opportunities for all users. The building literally re-sources materials through rammed earth, recycled steel and wood that can be dismantled and reused. The project is regenerative because its open structural framework allows transformation over time. Architecture that enables, rather than fixes.
2. How did the issues of your design and the questions raised by the site mutation meet?
The site presented disparate conditions: a bridge with a big road, a riverbank needing ecological restoration, a street, and a new neighborhood. Rather than treating these as separate problems, we recognized their potential synthesis through stacking programs: the building hovers over infrastructure, opens to the river, and creates a park-like setting where sport becomes publicly visible. Our location-specific system recognizes that densification isn't efficient alone—it creates new opportunities. A Good Sport creates countless interactions between sport visitors, neighbors, and residents.
PROJECT:
min+ has no recurring agenda we pursue in every project. However, context and program challenges are always leading. We are fascinated with bringing together seemingly unrelated activities. Our expertise then lies in combining these different activities in complex contexts into an integral architecture—from housing to nature observatories, laboratories to sports centers. We call this intensification. It creates unexpected interactions and enables new opportunities.
SITE:
A Good Sport is designed as an adaptable framework, not a fixed object. The demountable construction allows phased development and later adaptation. For instance, the above-ground parking can be converted when car demand declines. As Dutch architects, we're enthusiastic to collaborate with the Amersfoort municipality and potential developers interested to develop the project further. The design's flexibility means it can evolve through dialogue.
REFERENCES:
min+ consists of three architects who met at TU Delft. We work at international offices in the Netherlands and Germany but we use architectural competitions as laboratories to experiment and test new ideas. The + in our name stands for future additions: we search for new perspectives, scenarios, possibilities, collaborations. What binds us is viewing architecture as a tool for addressing societal and ecological challenges. For min+, architecture’s beauty lies with its use and experience
6. How could this prize help you in your professional career?
Winning Europan 18 validates our approach: creating architecture that intensifies myriad programs, enables new opportunities and transforms over time. The prize positions min+ as architects capable of addressing contemporary spatial challenges. Most valuably, Europan brings together actors interested in realizing new forms of architecture. It opens a dialogue with Amersfoort about potential realization, which would be an invaluable experience.
TEAM IDENTITY
Legal status:
Team name:
Average age of the associates: 30 years old
Has your team, together or separately, already conceived or implemented some projects and/or won any competition? if so, which ones?
We have won several international design competitions as a team. Furthermore we have designed and built smaller scale projects in the Netherlands. Individually we have experience with our respective international offices where we have won international competitions and built large scale projects globally.
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