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This research aims to investigate the bioclimatic design, sustainability and environmental behaviour of Cypriot vernacular farmhouses, as part of small-scale family-owned farmsteads. These farmhouses, located in village outskirts, are still in operation, greatly supporting the primary sector of Cypriot economy. Current uses have conduced arbitrary modifications in their morphology, layout, construction and usage, which in the past had contributed positively to thermal comfort and household autonomy. In the present, these modifications caused farmhouses to become climatically inept, devoid of Bioclimatism and Sustainability. This research employs multiple case studies with a fully-integrated mixedmethods design. Findings are drawn via triangulation of qualitative and quantitative data from ethnographic participant observation, post-occupancy evaluation survey, interviews, in-situ documentation and environmental monitoring. Initial findings show that there is a tangible and intangible relationship between the dwelling, its inhabitants and the environment, strengthened in time due to tradition, accumulated knowledge and experience, and born out of necessity, scarcity and practicality. It is an interdependent, dynamic and adaptive reciprocity, induced by the complex interplay of socio-cultural, economic, technological, aesthetic and environmental factors. The end result was for bioclimatic design to be applied intuitively and sustainability to be embedded in the form, configuration, construction and operational modes of farmhouses. As Cyprus attempts to conform to its EU obligations regarding the sustainable development of rural environments and make the transition towards nearly-zero energy buildings, the Cypriot vernacular farmhouse can offer valuable lessons in building design and performance, whilst provide clear guidance for its strategic restoration and reuse. 1. Introducing the Cypriot Vernacular Rural Dwelling and Farmhouse In general, the Cypriot vernacular rural dwelling, its granary, storerooms, stables, inner courtyard and orchard functioned as a small farm. It evolved from a monochoro (single room) to a makrinari (increased longitudinal space), which gradually became the archetypal shelter of Cyprus. The need for larger and separate spaces led to the development of the dichoro (double-space room divided by arches or posts) and the anoi (upper floor). The necessity to safely store items and agricultural produce added the sospito (inner storage room and ground-level cellar) and the sente (loft for crop storage). Encouraged by mild winters yet mindful of harsh summer conditions, peasants devised courtyards and transitional spaces to create outdoor working spaces throughout the year, such as the hliakos (semi-open space attached to the south building façade) and the portico (covered street access to courtyard). These elements were widely employed throughout the island, but their size, orientation and spatial arrangement created different house forms that adapted to terrain and climate variations, inhabitant activities, household needs and socio-cultural habits associated with family and communal life [1]. Towards SBE: from Policy to Practice IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 329 (2019) 012033 IOP Publishing doi:10.1088/1755-1315/329/1/012033 2 Farmers’ main concerns were security, longevity and survival; thus, they laid their villages cascading down mountain slopes or perched on hilltops to avoid floods and disease-ridden stagnant waters; seek protection from harsh cold winds whilst exploit cool breezes and solar radiation; and free up arable land, to be cultivated and used as pastures for their domesticated animals. Rural dwellings were tightlyclustered to form neighbourhoods around church squares and water fountains, radiating from village cores and surrounded by fertile lands, apportioned to families. Inhabitants gained communal support and established trading relationships in order to amplify production and collectively manage the community’s services and resources. Each community sustained a certain autonomy out of necessity, since until the 19 century no comprehensive route network serviced the island [2]. Under heavy taxations and demand for extensive exports during the British Rule, farmers were forced to maintain high productivity, though agriculture was far from being self-sufficient and ploughing was still primitive [3]. To survive, new families built farms in the sparsely-populated village fringes. Unlike village dwellings, these farmsteads were bigger in size, consisting of the farmhouse, numerous outbuildings and larger open spaces to process and store increased amounts of agricultural produce, orchards, vegetable gardens and grazing grounds for animal herds. 2. Methodology This research focuses on vernacular farmhouses, as part of small-scale family-owned farmsteads, instead of dwellings in densely-built rural settings. These farmhouses, as an important building type, exhibited similar but also additional building forms, spatial configurations, usages and bioclimatic strategies. Furthermore, they are still in operation, greatly supporting the primary sector of Cypriot economy. Current uses have conduced arbitrary modifications in their morphology, layout, construction and usage, which in the past had contributed positively to thermal comfort and sustainable management. In the present, unregulated modifications have caused farmhouses to become climatically inept, devoid of Bioclimatism and Sustainability. As Cyprus attempts to conform to its EU obligations regarding the sustainable development of rural environments and make the transition towards nearly-zero carbon buildings, the Cypriot vernacular farmhouse can provide guidelines for its strategic restoration and reuse, and in general, offer valuable lessons in bioclimatic design and sustainable performance. Previous studies have identified the form, materiality, construction and bioclimatic strategies of traditional buildings in compact built settings [4-6]. As they examine factors separately, it is difficult to consider a potentially complex interplay of several factors related to building form, organization and usage. They also provide minimal contextualization, as they take a section across settlements to study convergent typologies and characteristics [7]. In their majority, they have produced quantifiable evidence via in-situ documentation, environmental monitoring and computer simulation, but few were supported by qualitative data [8]; and rarely did they explicitly attributed inhabitant’s values, perspectives and understandings, habits and norms (socio-cultural intangible aspects), as causes to form creation, placement, layout and operational mode of vernacular dwellings. Thus, this research seeks to identify the socio-cultural, economic, technological, aesthetic and environmental factors that influence form creation, placement, orientation, spatial configuration and usage. Focusing on the relationship “dwelling – inhabitant – environment”, it examines how these parameters affect or relate to each other; and finally, it investigates the environmental behaviour, passive heating, cooling and ventilation strategies, as well as the sustainable operational modes of farmhouses. In order to construct a holistic and comprehensive account of the vernacular farmhouse, this study employs multiple case studies with a fully-integrated mixed research design (QUAL+QUAN). Qualitative and quantitative methods occur concurrently in an interactive manner at all stages, so that each affects the formation of the other and leads to multi-strand directions of inquiry [9]. Data triangulation enhanced the ability of case studies to generate theory, provided additional validity to assertions made by either the researcher or the case-study participants, and maintained researcher’s objectivity as cases are allowed to speak for themselves [10]. The objective of field studies is to construct life narratives for each farmhouse, informed by: inhabitants’ meanings ascribed to their dwelling as a family hearth, a shelter, and an economic production unit; inhabitants’ experiences, actions, uses and adaptive opportunities obtained via interviews and observed in the field, as they go about their everyday 1 European Directive 2010/31/EE was incorporated into Cypriot legislation [Law 2012 Ν.210(Ι) /2012-5Α], which stipulates that after 31/12/2020 all new and renovated buildings must be Nearly Zero Energy Buildings. Towards SBE: from Policy to Practice IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 329 (2019) 012033 IOP Publishing doi:10.1088/1755-1315/329/1/012033 3 life conducting daily chores and agricultural work, and seek ways to create comfortable, liveable and functional homes. Data were collected through participant-ethnographic observation, semi-structured interviews and post-occupancy evaluation (POE) survey, and in-situ documentation with field notes, architectural drawings and audio-visual media. To assess building performance, environmental monitoring provided data for 202 days, split in five periods. 12 data loggers, located in indoor and outdoor spaces most frequently used by inhabitants, recorded air temperature and relative humidity every 15 minutes. Through thematic analysis of the qualitative material [11], placement, orientation, configuration, use of spaces, construction techniques, sustainable operation and management emerge as some of the main themes. Findings from quantitative data analysis were employed to triangulate and reinforce emerging main qualitative themes. 3. Results and Discussion 3.1. Case Study (Life) Narratives The MK, GL and EL farmsteads, built in 1949, 1935 and 1925, are located in the outskirts of a village, on a natural terrace meandering along a stream between two foothills. This region boasted most farmsteads because of its well-irrigated rich soils, accessible water bodies and natural resources, which suppl

The Intuitive Bioclimatism and Embedded Sustainability of Cypriot Vernacular Farmhouses, as Principles for their Strategic Restoration and Reuse