NEB Lab Housing

NEB LAB Housing will contribute to build the EU approach to housing affordability, developed under the European Affordable Housing Plan, with additional perspectives through a strong emphasis on NEB values: 1. Inclusion – promoting participatory design, housing affordability, equitable access, and social cohesion, particularly in post-conflict or disaster-hit areas. 2. Sustainability & Resilience – supporting circular, low-carbon design, climate adaptation in both renovation and new construction. 3. Spatial Quality – embedding architectural excellence that enhances well-being, cultural continuity, and local identity.   

Key priorities include, advocating that affordable housing must not compromise on architectural quality; mainstreaming adaptive reuse as a viable strategy and promoting innovation in sustainable construction, materials, and methods.   

Strategic outcomes include a knowledge hub for NEB Community members, a repository of best practices showcasing inclusive, quality housing and supporting the EU Housing Taskforce efforts by providing architectural and cultural expertise. 

Indicative project milestones 

2025  

Nov 2025 – continuously: Setting the agenda of the LAB in coordination with the EU Housing Task Force  - to ensure complementarity and identify gaps the LAB can address.  

2026 

June 2026: NEB LAB Housing event at the Festival of the New European Bauhaus 2026 - To showcase results and gather support for continuation and pilot implementation. 

Q3–Q4 2026: Co-creation of the online, freely accessible database for the best examples of quality affordable housing in EU: defining the selection criteria, managing the open call, curating the online database. This will be a continuous effort of the LAB. 

Compendium of Methods - Analysing the best examples, to collaboratively develop a Compendium of Methods for beautiful, inclusive and sustainable housing, focusing on the 3 aspects mentioned above: Quality / Aesthetic / Beauty; Adaptive Reuse; Architectural Innovation. 

Q1–Q4 2027

Preparation and execution of capacity building - To prepare content for the capacity building. To build capacity in applying housing quality principles across Europe and beyond, with emphasis on planning, renovation, and inclusive design processes, such as quality-based procurement and streamlined permitting. 

Participation in the project 

The project is open to welcome new partners and initiatives, especially architectural organizations, universities and research institutions, governmental bodies, local administrations, communities and NGOs and regional and global donors, from Europe and beyond; 

In particular, the NEB community is very welcome to engage with the project by taking part in events, workshops and other activities, and help strengthen its impact in various local and regional contexts. 

Project coordinators 

• Architects Association of Lithuania (New European Bauhaus Partner)
• Architects Council of Europe (New European Bauhaus Partner)
• Kaunas University of Technology, Faculty of Civil engineering and Architecture (New European Bauhaus Partner)  

Contacts 

%20ruta [dot] leitanaitegmail [dot] com (Rūta Leitanaitė)
Architects Association of Lithuania 
Kalvariju St. 1, Vilnius 
LT-09310, Lithuania 
infoarchitektusajunga [dot] lt (info[at]architektusajunga[dot]lt)