Reimagining homes for future living

Researchers at Cardiff University are redefining how homes are designed, transformed and lived in – advancing low-carbon technologies, bio-based materials and co-designed spaces that improve wellbeing and create healthier homes for future generations.

For more than a decade, researchers at Cardiff University have been shaping new ways to understand and improve the homes we already live in.

Our work brings together architecture, engineering, energy systems, design research and social science in a long-standing collaboration with residents, local authorities, social landlords, industry and university partners across Wales and the UK.

Through co-design with residents and housing partners, and by applying ideas in real homes, we’re shaping healthier, low-energy living for future generations.

Transforming everyday living

Researchers at Cardiff University are transforming how homes are designed and renovated by integrating design research, bio-based materials, and low-carbon technologies.

By first reducing the amount of energy a home needs, and then ensuring the energy it uses is clean, renewable and intelligently managed, homes can be transformed, leading to health, wellbeing, comfort, reduced bills, and reduced carbon emissions.

The Centre for Low Carbon Built Environment

Co-design insights
Working with residents and housing partners, we explore how people use space and what they need from their homes - shaping designs that support wellbeing today and future ways of living.
Bio-based materials
We’re advancing natural, low-carbon materials that breathe, insulate and last – improving comfort, indoor air quality and sustainability across the UK’s older housing stock.
Low-carbon systems
Our teams test and integrate technologies that reduce energy demand, generate renewable power and use it intelligently - lowering bills, emissions and improving long-term resilience.
Real-home evidence
Working in people’s home and performance modelling, we create practical, scalable solutions that inform retrofit decisions for communities, local authorities and the wider UK housing sector.

Solar generation, battery storage and whole-home control systems allow each property to function as an optimised energy ecosystem.

The result is not simply lower bills, but a tangible shift away from fossil-fuel dependency and towards homes that are more resilient, comfortable and sustainable.

This work is grounded in the lives of the people it serves. Through co-design and ethnographic insight, residents help shape understanding of how households use space, how buildings behave in everyday conditions, and how interventions can support wellbeing whilst minimising disruption to daily life.

This approach ensures that innovations are not only technically robust, but also practical, acceptable, and meaningful for residents – an ethos that has shaped some of the most trusted and enduring partnerships in Wales.

The impact of this research is already visible across the region.

Evidence generated at Cardiff is informing procurement frameworks, shaping retrofit strategies, and strengthening supply-chain capability.

Several local authorities now draw directly on Cardiff’s models and findings to guide long-term investment, and many have adopted the demand-reduction and renewable-integration principles developed through this work.

“Co-designing with residents gives us a deeper understanding of how people truly live - allowing us to create homes that support wellbeing today and adapt to future needs.”

Professor Joanne Patterson

These collaborations have helped shift practices across Wales, improving energy performance and deepening the sector’s understanding of how homes can be transformed at scale.

By applying ideas in lived-in homes, modelling their performance across neighbourhoods and working closely with those who deliver and inhabit the housing sector, Cardiff researchers are expanding what is possible for housing transformation across the UK and beyond.

Our interdisciplinary work demonstrates how design, materials, technology and partnerships can come together to create homes that support healthier, more sustainable futures.