Building the Future: One Headset at a Time

“We needed a new way to make our sectors exciting.”

That’s how the team at TBI Holdings, one of the Netherlands’ leading construction, development and infrastructure groups, describes the start of an ambitious idea, one that would take children beyond the classroom and into the future of building.

Across the country, the numbers are stark: a shortage of nearly 400,000 homes, an urgent need to renew roads, bridges, and dikes, and a generation not yet inspired to fill the roles required to make it happen. “Sometimes we can’t even take on projects,” TBI admits, “because there just aren’t enough electricians, builders, or tunnel engineers.”

But instead of more campaigns and brochures, TBI asked a bold question: what if we could let them experience it firsthand?

The Spark: Turning Curiosity Into Experience
Together with TBI, The Brink Agency and the ZWBT Foundation, TBI transformed a touring truck into a mobile virtual reality classroom. Inside, children put on headsets and step into a vivid world of tunnels, construction sites, and sustainable homes all brought to life through immersive 3D storytelling.

“The generation we’re speaking to needs to feel it,” says Carlo Teunissen from TBI Praktijkfonds. “Attention spans are short, and curiosity comes from interaction. VR lets us make an invisible world tangible. They can see how their creativity and skill could literally shape the country.”

The Brink Agency designed and produced the experience  from digital storytelling and spatial design to scalability and logistics ensuring every moment of the journey feels cinematic and purposeful.

“Our goal was to make the sector come alive,” says Simon Koop, Creative Director at The Brink Agency. “To help children feel proud and inspired, and to realize that building the future can be just as imaginative as it is technical.”

The Experience: When the Truck Arrives
Each stop on the VR Roadshow feels like a small event. The truck rolls into the schoolyard; excitement builds. Inside, groups of children take turns exploring, reacting with awe, laughter, and curiosity.

At some schools, over 300 students experience the VR journey in a single day. “I didn’t know I could do this,’ we know we’ve succeeded. Planting that seed for a future in our sectors is really worth it in our vision” TBI Praktijkfonds explains.

Teachers echo the impact:
“We’ve never seen our students this engaged with technical careers,” one teacher shared. “It’s the first time they’ve seen the connection between their creativity and real-world change.”

Beyond the Wow Factor
The results speak for themselves. In just months, the roadshow is reaching over 50 plus schools and over 15,000 children.

“This isn’t about gaming,” says Carlo Teunissen from TBI Praktijkfonds. “It’s about the future of our building sector,  about all the incredible jobs that keep it moving forward. We want to show young people that the future isn’t something to watch; it’s something to build.”

For The Brink Agency, the project reflects the agency’s core belief: that imagination, design and technology together can reshape how we learn, work and dream.

“In twenty minutes of VR, we can ignite curiosity that lasts a lifetime,” says  Simon Koop.

What’s Next
Driven by its creator's mission to strengthen the entire construction sector and help young people discover its possibilities, the team wants to  expand  the VR experience on multiple fronts. TBI is broadening access: an additional 25 headsets with the same experience are being rolled out for exhibitions, internal events, and partner activations, allowing more people to step into the world of modern infrastructure. The roadshow will soon visit all TBI offices, giving employees across the group the chance to experience the project firsthand. And as interest grows, the team is already exploring how this initiative could travel beyond Dutch borders. “This is just the beginning,” says Carlo Teunissen from TBI Praktijkfonds. “If even one child chooses a technical career because of this experience, that’s a lifetime return on investment for them, for us  and for the country.”