The city of Križevci (HR) wins a New European Bauhaus Prize for transforming a former military dormitory into a housing cooperative

The northern Croatian town of Križevci, our member since 2019 and a board member, has won a New European Bauhaus Prize for its project to retrofit a former military dormitory into a housing cooperative. This prize celebrates sustainable and inclusive projects and will support Križevci in advancing its energy and climate goals.

Giving a new purpose to an existing building

The awarded project involves retrofitting a four-storey former military dormitory, an unadapted part of the former base, and converting it into a housing cooperative. Other spaces within the base have already been renovated and repurposed, now hosting a development centre and technology park, a kindergarten and polyclinic, and a retirement home.

By reusing a former military building, the project aims to extend the building’s lifespan, improve its energy performance, and deliver innovative solutions. Recycled materials will be prioritised for interior design, and the project includes a 50 kW photovoltaic power plant on the roof, producing sufficient energy for both heating and cooling the building through a heat pump system. In addition, the project seeks to preserve existing greenery and plant additional trees, shrubs, and groundcover to mitigate the heat island effect.

The cooperative model encourages resource sharing, further reducing energy consumption and fostering an internal sharing economy with the potential to create ripple effects across the wider community. The housing cooperative represents the final phase of the district-wide renovation, providing much-needed affordable housing units while enhancing quality of life and social cohesion in this inclusive neighbourhood.

This prize recognises Križevci’s strong efforts in its transition, as the town has already launched many initiatives on its path toward climate neutrality (read more their solar energy production).

Implementing sufficiency measures to tackle the housing crisis

Križevci’s example clearly demonstrates that sufficiency measures can be implemented to bring new life to abandoned buildings. If you’d like to discover other examples of cities using sufficiency measures to tackle the housing crisis, read the stories of Verona, Utrecht, Lille Métropole, and Budapest, and learn more about our recommendations to the EU institutions.

Read more about the project: https://prizes.new-european-bauhaus.europa.eu/application/39226

Source: https://prizes.new-european-bauhaus.europa.eu/application/39226