CityHome 5: Reusing an Urban Building for Inclusive, Autonomous Supported Living (Pilot Site in Cyprus)

1. Concept & Vision

CityHome 5 is a New European Bauhaus (NEB) living demonstrator based in Larnaca, Cyprus. The project addresses a dual urban and social challenge: the adaptive reuse of vacant/underused urban buildings and the critical transition of adults with intellectual disabilities from institutional or family dependency to autonomous, community-based independent living.

Rather than a conventional renovation project, CityHome 5 is a social, service, and urban innovation model. It tests how structural sustainability, inclusive architecture, and digital assistive tools can merge to create a dignified, human-scale city home deeply embedded in the social, cultural, and economic fabric of the local neighbourhood.

2. Strategic Alignment with NEB Values

• Inclusive: It empowers a highly vulnerable group (adults with intellectual disabilities) to live independently with choice and dignity, preventing institutionalisation, relieving ageing families, and driving co-creation methodology with end-users.

• Sustainable: It promotes a circular economy in the built environment through the adaptive reuse of an existing urban asset, integrating energy-efficiency upgrades and low-maintenance, climate-resilient retrofitting.

• Beautiful: It redefines beauty as a sense of belonging, accessibility, and high-quality aesthetic design that bridges specialized care environments with a warm, domestic, and non-stigmatizing urban home.

3. What We Offer (Our Role in the Consortium)

The Saint Lazarus Centre brings 30+ years of operational experience in disability services, day-care, and vocational training. Within a Horizon Europe / NEB Facility consortium (e.g., targeting HORIZON-NEB-2026-01-BUSINESS-03 or inclusion calls), we offer a mature, ready-to-go pilot framework acting as an:

• End-User Organisation & Co-Creation Partner: Direct access to real future residents, families, and multidisciplinary care experts.

• Pilot Building & Asset Owner: A concrete, old urban property located in central Larnaca, ready for retrofitting.

• Future Service Operator: Guaranteeing long-term sustainability and operations beyond the project's lifetime.

• Widening Country Demonstrator: Providing high strategic value to the consortium's geographical scoring criteria under Horizon Europe rules.

4. Expected Outcomes & Impact

• A validated, transferable NEB blueprint for disability-inclusive adaptive reuse of small-scale urban buildings.

• Measurable social impact data on quality of life, autonomy milestones, and neighbourhood integration using smart monitoring frameworks.

• A scalable toolkit and policy recommendations for shifting from traditional supported living to autonomous urban inclusion across European municipalities.