The new building of the CYENS Centre of Excellence, which is housed in the old Municipal Market building, in old Nicosia, is expected to be handed over in August 2023. For this project, a total of pound 36 million was raised from funds of the European Union and the Republic of Cyprus.
These figures were reported on Friday noon during a media tour of the CYENS building, which is still under construction.
Constantinos Yiorkadjis, Mayor of Nicosia and chairman of the Board of Directors of the CYENS Centre of Excellence, said that the building under construction “is a very good example of how timely we applied for the CYENS Centre of Excellence in the Horizon 2020 programme.” At the same time, he continued, “there was a request from other European funds to repair and use the specific building as a research centre.” “We used two different European tools to achieve multiple goals,” he explained.
Yiorkadjis stated that the CYENS Centre of Excellence is located in the centre of Nicosia “to begin the gradual revitalization of the Green Line area, and at the same time – again with European funds – to upgrade a beautiful building, save it and modernise it so that it can accept its new use as a research centre.”
Asked about the amount of funding received by the CYENS Centre of Excellence, the Mayor of Nicosia stated that it received a grant of pound 30 million from the “Horizon 2020” programme, of which pound 15 million came from the European Union and the other pound 15 million from the Republic of Cyprus. Additionally, pound 6 million were received from the European funds requested by the Municipality of Nicosia. The funds, as he said, included Trikoupi Street as a hub for creative businesses. “When you combine European funds and state resources, you can create projects that have multiple benefits,” he indicated.
During the tour, it was noted that the upper floor of the building will house the Centre’s researchers and administration, while the ground floor will offer services that will be open to the industry and the public, such as a coworking space, seminar rooms, an exhibition space for the presentation of the technologies developed by the Centre, as well as a café.
Furthermore, it was noted that all areas of the building are accessible to people with disabilities. There are two lifts that give access to all areas, while in the basement there is a bicycle parking area, showers, as well as a shower for the disabled.
Source: Cyprus News Agency