Co-Designing a Transitional Co-Housing for People with Disabilities

Transitional co-housing is an emerging model supporting the independent-living pathways of young adults with disabilities. Such facilities, however, often rely on standard accessibility compliance that addresses physical barriers while overlooking sensory, cognitive and behavioural needs. This paper presents the co-design methodology of CASA CARE, a publicly funded transitional residence in Calderara di Reno, Italy, where young adults with mild motor and/or cognitive disabilities prepare for autonomous living. Adopting a Universal Design approach, enacted through human-centred design, the project engaged social-health professionals, end users, family caregivers and companies across nine co-design workshops, adapting traditional co-design methods to improve accessibility for neurodiverse participants and beyond. Needs, insights, constraints and solutions were systematised through a traceable categorisation framework and translated into spatial, technological and service-model decisions informed by the ASPECTSS framework for neurodiversity. Usability tests assessed selected apps and devices with end users. The paper focuses on the methodology and its transferability, offering a replicable model that links universal design principles to technical specification and service-model development. In particular, it contributes a structured framework for translating stakeholder evidence into design decisions and demonstrates how co-design methods can be adapted to support the meaningful participation of neurodiverse users in housing projects.