BUILT CoLAB

BUILT CoLAB, the Collaborative Laboratory for the Future Built Environment, is based at Rua do Campo Alegre 760 in Porto. It brings together knowledge centres, industry and end users to research and transfer new technologies for the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) sector, with the stated aim of increasing productivity, competitiveness and sustainable growth across the industry. Its work splits into two strategic areas: digitalisation and sustainability. Current projects include UTS (Universal Timber Slab), a Horizon Europe initiative led by the University of Stuttgart developing timber floor slabs as an alternative to concrete; Digital Eye, which aims to make point-cloud processing software accessible to small and medium businesses; Automation, building a digital twin system for construction monitoring; and a protocol with the Portuguese Environmental Agency on contaminated soils and rock. BUILT CoLAB is also a member of DIGITALbuilt, a Digital Innovation Hub offering services to SMEs and public administration. The lab supervises master's theses carried out in a business setting, in partnership with FEUP (Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto), on topics such as scan-to-BIM frameworks and structural digital twins for historic buildings. It also participates in four working groups run by buildingSMART Portugal, and in September 2026 staff spoke at the European Young Engineers event in Porto on the industrialisation of construction. Funded in part through Portugal's Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) and NextGenerationEU, BUILT CoLAB runs public validation workshops for its projects, including UTS sessions held in Milan, with further sessions planned in London, Helsinki and Porto in late 2026.