Djernes & Bell designs Danish research centre as "living laboratory"
A palette of local clay, sand, hemp and wood was used to create Hedeskov Living Lab, a research and educational centre in Rønde, designed by Danish architecture studio Djernes & Bell.
Located on rewilded farmland, the centre is dedicated to research and education on regenerative practices and occupies a series of structures, including an old stone school.
Djernes & Bell's design, which was recently shortlisted in the sustainable renovation category of Dezeen Awards 2025, is intended to embody the ethos of its client, researcher Hedeskov, by using local, natural materials and vernacular construction methods.
It provides educational and co-working spaces, alongside accommodation for residencies and a barn workshop.
"The project is built around the belief that architecture should no longer be an isolated object, but an active participant in ecological repair," studio partner Justine Bell told Dezeen.
"It is a demonstration of how a building can become a living laboratory for regenerative practice – not just by reducing impact, but by actively improving the systems around it," she added.
"It's about making architecture that clearly shows the landscapes, materials, and building cultures that produced it, and in doing so, makes visible the relationships between humans, land, and time."
Collaborating with UK-based circular material specialists Local Works Studio, local farmers and craftspeople, Djernes & Bell surveyed the landscape for natural materials that could be used to construct Hedeskov Living Lab, including clay, timber, bulrush and typha fibres.
The structure of the existing school building was conserved and restored using bricks found on-site, before its ground floor was given a new lining of clay plaster pigmented a reddish-brown tone using local sand and linseed oil paint.
Inside, a double-height entrance hall connects the residency bedrooms and classroom with a large meeting room and co-working space above, positioned beneath the original timber rafters.
Built-in cabinetry on the first floor was created by repurposing the old floorboards, which were taken up and replaced to insert insulation.
An adjacent garage building was given a more extensive overhaul based on traditional Danish bindingsværk, or half-timbering. An entirely new wooden frame was infilled with hemp-lime panels and raised on limecrete foundations and a local clay floor.
"Unfired clay bricks, hemp-lime infill and clay plasters reinforced with typha fibres from the site were chosen for their low-carbon, hygroscopic, and non-toxic qualities, but also for the stories they carry of seasonal cycles, ancient craft knowledge and the slow processes that shape the land," said Bell.
"There was a huge amount of on-site reuse and re-crafting," Bell added. "All new internal walls were made from bricks found on site and all the old timber floors were recrafted to make the joinery of the project."
"It's a reminder that reuse and repair are not new ideas – they are how nature, and humans, have always built. Iterative improvement, using what is already there, is the essence of a reparative building culture."
Accompanying the garage and school building is a new green-roofed shed containing a workshop and kitchen, built on the footprint of an old shed, as well as an open pavilion with a recycled brick floor.
The timber structures of both of these have been finished in a deep shade of red, a traditional feature of many Danish agricultural barns, while large circular windows and skylights form a motif that unites both the old and new elements of the site.
As part of the centre's ongoing research in partnership with Aalborg BUILD University, students will track the centre's internal climate, emissions and moisture behaviour.
Other projects competing for sustainable renovation of the year in the Dezeen Awards 2025 include Space House in London, which was renovated and extended by British studio Squire and Partners, and the overhaul of the Palais Rameau exhibition hall in Lille by Atelier 9.81 and Perrot & Richard.
The photography is by Johan Dehlin.
The post Djernes & Bell designs Danish research centre as "living laboratory" appeared first on Dezeen.
