HIT has been awarded with a contract from the Cyprus Research and Innovation Foundation (Project Acronym: UrbanPeriscope) with the aim to develop an innovative platform for the identification, classification, documentation and renovation of heritage buildings, which can be exploited by a variety of stakeholders related to the conservation and retrofit activities.

The UrbanPeriscope project will enable the exploitation of state-of-the-art techniques in the scientific fields of Building Information Modelling (BIM), remote sensing, terrestrial and aerial 3D modelling techniques, and non-destructive onsite testing. The UrbanPerisope Platform is targeted to specific stakeholders to impact culturally and economically the society of Cyprus, including public authorities and policy makers, including the Town Planning and Housing Department, the Department of Antiquities, different Municipalities, professionals (i.e. archaeologists, engineers, architects, chartered surveyors etc.) and heritage buildings owners.

The implementation of project in practice involves the pilot application of the proposed holistic integrated methodology on 20 heritage buildings in Nicosia and Limassol (in both the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot neighborhoods) with regards to their location in the contemporary fabric of the city and their current structural condition. This pilot application will enable the generation of an integrated database, from which information and data will be extracted in order to be used for the development of the methodology with feedback collected from the stakeholders engaged in the project. The development of the platform and associated tools will bring added value and benefits to the Public Authorities and Cultural Operators participating, and to the Consortium as a whole.

The UrbanPeriscope project is implemented by a partnership of nine Cyprus-based entities and an Italy-based organization, led by the Cyprus Institute, serving as the project coordinator. The partners consist of universities and research centers (The Cyprus Institute, Cyprus University of Technology, Frederick Research Center, Fondazione Bruno Kessler), public authorities (Ministry of Interior-Town Planning and Housing Department, Municipality of Strovolos, Municipality of Limassol) and private companies (NetU, HIT Hypertech Innovations, RTD Talos).