RE-GROWTH: Bio-fabricated regenerative materials for sustainable, climate-resilient and beautiful construction
Programme: Horizon Europe – HORIZON-NEB-2025-01-REGEN-02 (HORIZON-RIA)
Duration: 36 months (1 September 2026 – 31 August 2029)
Partners: Draxis Research Ventures (Coordinator), Technische Universiteit Delft (TUD), Polytechneio Kritis (TUC), Politecnico di Torino (POLITO), Politechnika Wroclawska (PWR), E2ARC Architecture Research for Cities, CompositeEdge GmbH (CoME), White Research Srl (WR), Moses Productos, Piloiko
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The challenge
The construction sector needs to transform. It must move towards more sustainable models that are resilient to climate change and offer greater aesthetic value. All of this in line with the vision of the New European Bauhaus (NEB): Together, Sustainable, Beautiful.
Objective
RE-GROWTH addresses this challenge by developing and validating regenerative bio-fabricated construction materials. These are organised into three families: mycelium panels, non-structural bio-fabricated polymers, and structural polymer composites.
Four complementary pillars underpin the project. First, participatory co-creation and a transdisciplinary framework anchor material development in social needs and cultural values. Second, the experimental development, characterisation and validation of the materials spans from the co-design of requirements and laboratory synthesis to multiscale modelling, validated at TRL5 through four Public Demonstrators located in Chania, Turin, Delft and Wrocław. Third, an integrated assessment of sustainability, circularity and aesthetics applies the Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design (SSbD) framework from the EU’s JRC, together with LCA, social LCA and LCC, verifying compliance with the DNSH principle and the EU Taxonomy while assessing social and aesthetic acceptance. Finally, the fourth pillar covers the feasibility of large-scale production, scalability and readiness for standardisation, achieved through AI- and robotics-assisted manufacturing, techno-economic analysis, and a Strategic Roadmap that facilitates CE marking and industrial replication.
The consortium brings together leading European expertise in bio-fabrication, materials engineering, architecture, digital manufacturing, life cycle sustainability assessment and stakeholder engagement. By uniting science, design and citizen participation, RE-GROWTH will drive Europe’s transition towards a circular, inclusive and beautiful built environment. All of this in line with the European Green Deal and the principles of the NEB.
Grant Agreement nº 101309331, RE-GROWTH, HORIZON-NEB-2025
