Renovating the built environment through design for adaptability and disassembly

Opened

Programme Category

EU Competitive Programmes

Programme Name

Horizon Europe (2021-2027)

Programme Description

Horizon Europe is the European Union (EU) funding programme for the period 2021 – 2027, which targets the sectors of research and innovation. The programme’s budget is around € 95.5 billion, of which € 5.4 billion is from NextGenerationEU to stimulate recovery and strengthen the EU’s resilience in the future, and € 4.5 billion is additional aid.

Programme Details

Identifier Code

HORIZON-NEB-2025-01-BUSINESS-01

Call

Renovating the built environment through design for adaptability and disassembly

Summary

Design for adaptability and disassembly is a concept for the design of buildings, common spaces, and infrastructures integrating circular economy principles for greater economic, environmental and social sustainability. It presents significant potential for the renovation of the built environment by allowing for easy adaptation of spaces and structures to changing needs and uses or technological advancements.

Renovating with modular components and elements that can be dis- and re-assembled and thereby repurposed across different applications further supports the long-term use, adaptation, and repurposing of buildings, common spaces, and infrastructures. This maximises their economic value (by retaining the embedded value of construction materials, components, and elements), improves their environmental performance (by reducing waste and the extraction of new raw materials and resources), and avoids their demolition as well as the construction of new structures.

The application of design for adaptability and disassembly has focused on new constructions. However, most structures and spaces in urban, peri-urban and rural areas have already been built and require adaptation and repurposing for new and updated uses and functions. Therefore, research should address design for adaptability and disassembly for the renovation of existing buildings, common spaces, and infrastructures.

Detailed Call Description

Expected Outcome:

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

  • More sustainable and inclusive renovation of existing buildings and common spaces and/or infrastructures based on design for adaptability and disassembly.
  • Processes, methods, and/or techniques are available for the modular adaptation and repurposing of existing buildings, common spaces, and infrastructures, drawing on historical knowledge and assessments of their past and present condition and functions to inform renovation strategies.
  • Public authorities, investors, construction project owners, developers, architects, designers, and SSH actors have access to evidence of the economic, environmental, social, cultural, financial, and regulatory impacts and understand the business case for design for adaptability and disassembly-based renovation processes, methods, and/or techniques compared to conventional renovations.

Proposals are expected to address all of the following:

  • Develop at least two renovation processes, methods, and/or techniques based on design for adaptability and disassembly that enable the future adaptation and repurposing of buildings, common spaces, and infrastructures with minimal usage disruption.
  • Demonstrate the developed solutions in at least two pilots in at least two Member States or Associated Countries. At least one of the pilots must target a building and at least one of the pilots must target a common space and/or an infrastructure.
  • Assess the barriers (including economic, environmental, cultural, social (including related to human capital and skills), and regulatory) to the market uptake of the developed solutions compared to conventional renovation processes, methods, and techniques, and propose solutions to overcome them.
  • Quantify, wherever feasible, the environmental (including whole life carbon assessments, carbon pricing, energy efficiency, ecosystem services), economic (including reduced resource consumption costs), social (including the response to changing neighbourhood needs), cultural (including the regeneration of cultural meanings and heritage in neighbourhoods), financial and regulatory impacts of the processes, methods, and techniques, while considering the specificities of the local context.
  • Use and build on indicators provided in the European framework for sustainable buildings ‘Level(s)’.

Proposals are expected to follow a participatory and transdisciplinary approach through the integration of different actors (such as public authorities, local actors from the targeted neighbourhoods, construction project owners, developers, investors, etc.) and disciplines (such as architecture or design, (civil) engineering, etc.).

This topic requires the effective contribution of SSH disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts, institutions as well as the inclusion of relevant SSH expertise in order to produce meaningful and significant effects enhancing the societal impact of the related research activities.

Proposals are expected to dedicate at least 0.2% of their total budget to share their intermediate and final results and findings with the Coordination and Support Action ‘New European Bauhaus hub for results and impact’ (HORIZON-MISS-2024-NEB-01-03).

Call Total Budget

€12.000.000

Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan

Expected EU contribution per project (EUR million): Around 6.00

Indicative number of projects expected to be funded: 2

Thematic Categories

  • Culture
  • Environment and Climate Change
  • Industry
  • Research, Technological Development and Innovation
  • Urban Development

Eligibility for Participation

  • Businesses
  • Central Government
  • Educational Institutions
  • Local Authorities
  • NGOs
  • Non Profit Organisations
  • Private Bodies
  • Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
  • Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

Call Opening Date

06/05/2025

Call Closing Date

12/11/2025

National Contact Point(s)

Research and Innovation Foundation 

29a Andrea Michalakopoulou, 1075 Nicosia
P.O. Box 23422, 1683 Nicosia
Telephone: +357 22205000
Fax: +357 22205001
Email: support@research.org.cy

EU Contact Point

Please read carefully all provisions below before the preparation of your application.

Online Manual is your guide on the procedures from proposal submission to managing your grant.

Horizon Europe Programme Guide contains the detailed guidance to the structure, budget and political priorities of Horizon Europe.

Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ – find the answers to most frequently asked questions on submission of proposals, evaluation and grant management.

Research Enquiry Service – ask questions about any aspect of European research in general and the EU Research Framework Programmes in particular.

National Contact Points (NCPs) – get guidance, practical information and assistance on participation in Horizon Europe. There are also NCPs in many non-EU and non-associated countries (‘third-countries’).

Enterprise Europe Network – contact your EEN national contact for advice to businesses with special focus on SMEs. The support includes guidance on the EU research funding.

IT Helpdesk – contact the Funding & Tenders Portal IT helpdesk for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc.

European IPR Helpdesk assists you on intellectual property issues.

CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk – the European Standards Organisations advise you how to tackle standardisation in your project proposal.

The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment – consult the general principles and requirements specifying the roles, responsibilities and entitlements of researchers, employers and funders of researchers.

Partner Search help you find a partner organisation for your proposal.