Pilots

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  Circular Time Lab – experimental timber structures, Switzerland

  In the heart of Lucerne, among its parks and urban nooks, something remarkable is taking shape—structures that appear, evolve, and then disappear, only to re-emerge in a new form. This is Circular Time Lab, a three-year experiment in designing, building, and re-building temporary wooden pavilions across the city. What looks like simple timber architecture is, in fact, a dynamic living lab where students, apprentices, and local craftsmen rethink how we build and unbuild our urban environments.

  
  

  Led by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, the project invites architecture students and young carpenters to collaborate in imagining structures that serve the public—shaded gathering spots, open-air classrooms, or simply spaces for pause and reflection. Each construction is temporary, yet meaningful, designed with circularity at its core: using reclaimed timber, steel, and textiles, all chosen with care and local insight. After each season, the buildings are taken apart, reworked, and built anew—offering not just a physical transformation, but also a pedagogical and social one.

  
  

  These interventions are not just technically clever—they’re beautiful in how they blend traditional woodcraft with bold, contemporary forms that echo Lucerne’s architectural identity. And above all, they’re open. Open to the public, open to change, and open to participation. Children play in them, neighbors rest in their shade, and builders learn by doing.

  
  

  Circular Time Lab doesn’t just teach how to build. It shows how buildings can be part of a city’s rhythm—temporary yet impactful, sustainable yet expressive, and always shared.

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  Urban Revitalisation Pilot – Saint Romain Le Puy, France

  In the heart of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Saint Romain Le Puy, a small French town nestled between a Xth century old Roman priory, the Forez canal, and a regional railway line, the old town centre is undergoing a quiet but profound transformation. What was once a fragmented and underused urban core—marked by aging buildings, narrow pedestrian routes, traffic jam, and public spaces in decline—is now becoming a model of how heritage, sustainability, and community can shape the future of small towns.
  
  Supported by CIRIDD, an international centre of resources and innovation for sustainable innovation based in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, the pilot project is reimagining over 5,000 square metres of residential, commercial, and public space. But this is not a renovation in the traditional sense. It’s a circular urban renewal, where old materials are reused, buildings are designed to be climate change adaptable, and every intervention considers both past and future. Brick by brick, a new town centre is emerging—one that respects its history while addressing today’s environmental and social challenges.
  
  The transformation is as much about people as it is about space. Local residents and schools are directly involved, voicing their needs and expectations, and selecting solutions. Affordable housing is a key component—half of the new homes are reserved for those who need them most. Streets and services are designed to be welcoming for all generations, especially the elderly.
  
  Through careful design, the project brings clarity and beauty back to the town centre, ensuring that new buildings speak the language of the old, while opening space for life to flourish again. Saint Romain Le Puy is not just being renovated—it’s being reconnected, reimagined, and reinhabited.
  
  Selective deconstruction, building materials re-use, partial demolition, and soil depollution phases terminated in May 2026. Pending the beginning of the upcoming construction phase (expected for 2027), communication activities and participatory activities with local communities are now realised to inform them on the project status and determine with them the temporary use of the vacant sites.

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  Fužine Castle, Slovenia

  Fužine Castle, perched on the left bank of the Ljubljanica River, is the only Renaissance castle in the Slovenian capital. Built in the 16th century, it has long since lost its original industrial function, but never its significance. Today, it houses the Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO), the central national institution for architecture, urbanism, design, and photography. Yet, despite preserving precious history within its walls, the building itself has never undergone a full transformation to meet the needs of a contemporary museum.

  
  

  One of the most overlooked parts of the castle is its attic – once an occasional exhibition venue, now an unusable space left to deteriorate under extreme temperatures and outdated infrastructure. This very attic is now becoming the focus of a pilot project that explores new, sustainable ways of renovating cultural heritage. The interventions are small but targeted: replacing deteriorated windows, improving insulation, adding temporary closures, and creating new space for exhibitions, storage, and community use.

  
  

  But this is not just a technical upgrade. It’s a cultural shift, where local craftsmanship, knowledge, and experience come together. Designers, builders, artists, residents, and museum visitors are actively involved. Through this, MAO is embracing the three core values of the New European Bauhaus: reducing energy loss and prolonging the building’s life (sustainability), enhancing the spatial quality of the castle (beauty), and opening it up to wider participation (inclusion).

  
  

  The attic of Fužine Castle is becoming a living lab for change – a place where heritage and the future meet in a shared vision.

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  Station for Transformation, Italy

  Rovereto’s railway station area in Italy is undergoing an extensive renovation as part of the EUI-funded project Station for Transformation (S4T). The initiative promotes sustainable and inclusive urban regeneration, with the goal of transforming the station and its surroundings into a dynamic and accessible public space. Particular emphasis is placed on the creation of new areas designed to host cultural, social, and sustainability-oriented activities.

  
  

  Grounded in the principles of the New European Bauhaus (NEB), namely sustainability, inclusion, and aesthetics, the project translates these values into concrete actions within the urban environment. It fosters dialogue and collaboration among local communities, institutions, enterprises, and creative organizations, ensuring a shared and participatory transformation process.

  
  

  Within this framework, the BAUHALPS pilot focuses on a specific building located in the S4T regeneration area, the former café Bar Iris. The building is being transformed into a Climate Canteen, a space dedicated to promoting sustainable agri-food practices, food innovation, and educational and training activities.

  
  

  Alongside the physical transformation, S4T actively engages a broad network of citizens, schools, and local associations through educational programmes, participatory initiatives, cultural activities, and workshops. This approach reinforces the social dimension of the project and supports long-term community involvement.

  
   
  

  The project also aims to establish a strong connection between S4T and BAUHALPS by testing the BAUHALPS toolkit within the Climate Canteen, sharing the knowledge and expertise developed through the project, and contributing to the success of both initiatives. This is achieved through the active involvement of the local community, guided by a New European Bauhaus-inspired approach.

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  Chamber of Commerce, Italy

  The property is situated within "La Cittadella," one of the main business districts in Padua. Its location provides excellent connectivity to the city center, the university and the exhibition center.

  
  

  In recent years, the local administration has focused on urban renewal to counteract socioeconomic decline. Key redevelopment projects include the establishment of a public park, the construction of new university facilities, and the expansion of the exhibition center. Furthermore, road infrastructure upgrades have significantly improved transit between the university district, the ring road, and the Padova Est junction. Indeed, infrastructure for a new tram line is currently under construction. 

  
  

  The property's internal facilities are designed for corporate use, featuring: a large conference room with 204 seats; two smaller convention rooms (53 and 24 seats); a dedicated meeting room, a control room, a reception area.

  
  

  The renovation project includes the complete replacement of the multimedia systems (audio-video, microphones, remote connections) and the electrical system, alongside a rejuvenation of the building’s internal aesthetics.

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  Micro-Neigbourhood, Germany

  In the district of Dickenreishausen, on the outskirts of Memmingen, a small but ambitious housing project is taking shape. Conceived as a pilot for circular, climate-responsive, and socially sustainable living, the micro-neighbourhood rethinks how housing can respond to today’s environmental challenges while remaining affordable, adaptable, and rooted in its local context. On a compact site of approximately 1,500 square metres, a multi-generational settlement is emerging—one that demonstrates how high-quality living can be achieved with minimal resource use.

  
  

  Rather than following the logic of conventional housing development, the project is designed as a real, inhabited living laboratory. At least four residential units are planned, each capable of adapting to different life phases and household structures over time. All buildings are conceived according to a strict design-for-disassembly approach: they are fully demountable, reusable, and can be removed without permanently sealing the land. In this way, the project directly addresses the tension between climate protection, land consumption, construction costs, and long-term residential quality.

  
  

  Circularity lies at the heart of the concept. The buildings rely predominantly on renewable and recycled materials, combined with highly prefabricated, simple, and robust construction systems. Regional value creation and material efficiency guide every design decision. Thanks to a very low primary energy demand and the integration of on-site renewable energy generation, the residential units aim for a high degree of energy autonomy while maintaining a high level of comfort.

  
  

  What sets the micro-neighbourhood apart is its strong focus on monitoring and continuous learning. The inhabited prototypes are evaluated over the long term, with particular attention to energy performance, indoor comfort, and user behaviour. This process generates reliable real-world data, providing a solid basis for improving circular housing concepts and supporting their replication at a larger scale.

  
   
  

  Through this combination of technological innovation and social responsibility, the micro-neighbourhood in Dickenreishausen contributes concretely to the sustainable transformation of residential construction. Small in scale but rich in insight, it shows how context-sensitive, circular developments can serve as transferable blueprints for a future-oriented building culture.

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  Alpine Hospitality – Tignes-Les Brévières, France

  At the foot of the Tignes ski resort, where the valley opens beneath the vast Alpine peaks and the imposing Chevril dam, a different kind of transformation is beginning. In Les Brévières, a hotel built for a past era of mountain tourism is now becoming a testing ground for how Alpine hospitality can adapt to a changing climate and a changing society.

  
  

  Constructed in the late 1980s, the five-storey residence has long been part of the region’s tourism infrastructure—welcoming guests through winter and summer seasons alike. Yet behind its stone, timber, and concrete façade lies a growing challenge. Rising energy demands, evolving regulations, and the uncertain future of snow-based tourism are calling for a new approach—one that goes beyond renovation and rethinks the very role of such buildings in mountain territories.

  
  

  This pilot, developed within the BAUHALPS project, explores how a large privately owned hotel can transition towards circularity while remaining economically viable and socially relevant. Rather than proposing a single fixed solution, the project works through scenarios—testing different levels of intervention, from targeted upgrades to more ambitious transformations. Each option carefully balances environmental impact, financial feasibility, and long-term value, acknowledging that sustainable change must also be realistic.

  
  

  But the transformation is not only technical. It is deeply collaborative. Financial institutions, local authorities, tourism actors, researchers, and designers are brought together to define what is called the “fair need”—a shared understanding of what level of intervention is truly necessary and meaningful. Workshops, participatory sessions, and public discussions create space for dialogue, ensuring that decisions are not made in isolation but shaped collectively.

  
  

  The surrounding landscape plays a crucial role in this story. The nearby dam, once responsible for the disappearance of the original village, remains a powerful symbol of energy production and territorial change. Today, it becomes part of a new narrative—one that connects local energy systems, building renovation, and climate resilience. Through design exploration and student-led hackathons, the project reimagines how architecture can reveal and engage with these invisible infrastructures.

  
  

  Circularity here is not an abstract concept, but a practical strategy. The building is approached as a flexible system—one that can adapt to new uses, extend its lifespan, and reduce its environmental footprint. From life-cycle thinking to material reuse and modular design, the pilot investigates how existing structures can evolve rather than be replaced. Even operational questions—such as extending the hotel’s seasonal use—are reconsidered as part of a broader circular approach.

  
  

  At its core, the Tignes pilot is about transition. It reflects a moment where Alpine regions must rethink their economic models, their buildings, and their relationship with the environment. This is not just a renovation project—it is a living process of negotiation between past and future, between local identity and global challenges.

  
   
  

  The hotel in Les Brévières is no longer just a place to stay. It is becoming a space to question, to test, and to imagine how mountain architecture can remain resilient, relevant, and shared in the decades to come.

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  Weiterbauen – Keep on building, Austria

  Hidden among the rural landscapes of Salzburg stands the Wiesberghof, a timber farmhouse that has witnessed nearly five centuries of Alpine life. Soon, this remarkable building will begin a new chapter as it is carefully relocated to the Salzburg Open-Air Museum in Großgmain. But rather than simply preserving the house as a monument to the past, the project asks a much bigger question: how can historic timber buildings continue to serve the needs of the future?
  
  Traditionally, open-air museums focus on conserving buildings in their original state, allowing visitors to experience history as it once was. Through the BAUHALPS project, however, Wiesberghof becomes something more. The team is exploring how the farmhouse could be sensitively modernised to support contemporary living and working while respecting its traditional structure, creating a bridge between heritage preservation and future possibilities.
  
  Using state-of-the-art digital technologies, the project is developing a series of virtual renovation scenarios tailored to different audiences. The result will be a virtual model house—not only documenting the building's history, but also demonstrating practical approaches for its sustainable adaptation. Rather than offering a single solution, it serves as a prototype and learning platform, showing how historic timber architecture can remain relevant in the twenty-first century.
  
  This virtual house is designed as a public resource. Through consultations, discussions, guidance materials, and digital documentation, it supports municipalities, regional authorities, planners, architects, developers, construction companies, researchers, and private owners who are seeking sustainable ways to reuse traditional timber buildings. In collaboration with the Salzburg Open-Air Museum, these services are intended to continue beyond the lifetime of the BAUHALPS project, ensuring that the knowledge generated today will inspire future generations of restoration and design.
  
  The Wiesberghof is therefore becoming more than a preserved farmhouse. It is evolving into a living prototype—where centuries-old craftsmanship meets digital innovation, and where Alpine heritage becomes a practical guide for building a more sustainable future.