{"id":258611,"date":"2025-11-12T13:44:25","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T13:44:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/258611\/"},"modified":"2025-11-12T13:44:25","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T13:44:25","slug":"djernes-bell-designs-hedeskov-research-centre-as-a-living-laboratory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/258611\/","title":{"rendered":"Djernes & Bell designs Hedeskov research centre as a “living laboratory”"},"content":{"rendered":"

A palette of local clay, sand, hemp<\/a> and wood<\/a> was used to create Hedeskov Living Lab, a research and educational<\/a> centre in R\u00f8nde, designed by Danish architecture studio Djernes & Bell.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"ExteriorDjernes & Bell has completed a research centre for regenerative practices in R\u00f8nde<\/p>\n

Djernes & Bell<\/a>‘s design, which was recently shortlisted in the sustainable renovation<\/a> category of Dezeen Awards 2025,<\/a> is intended to embody the ethos of its client, researcher Hedeskov<\/a>, by using local, natural materials and vernacular construction methods.<\/p>\n

It provides educational and co-working spaces, alongside accommodation for residencies and a barn workshop.<\/p>\n

\"EducationalThe studio used local materials and construction methods<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n

“It is a demonstration of how a building can become a living laboratory for regenerative practice \u2013 not just by reducing impact, but by actively improving the systems around it,” she added.<\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

\"NewThe centre provides educational and co-working spaces<\/p>\n

Collaborating with UK-based circular material specialists Local Works Studio<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"InteriorAn existing school building was updated<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Built-in cabinetry on the first floor was created by repurposing the old floorboards, which were taken up and replaced to insert insulation.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Your<\/p>\n

Fold-out greenhouse with opening sides transforms into pavilion for agricultural education\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

An adjacent garage building was given a more extensive overhaul based on traditional Danish bindingsv\u00e6rk, or half-timbering. An entirely new wooden frame was infilled with hemp-lime panels and raised on limecrete foundations and a local clay floor.<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n

\"ClassroomA classroom is held on the school’s ground floor<\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

“It’s a reminder that reuse and repair are not new ideas \u2013 they are how nature, and humans, have always built. Iterative improvement, using what is already there, is the essence of a reparative building culture.”<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"KitchenA green-roofed shed contains a workshop and a kitchen<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Other projects competing for sustainable renovation of the year in the Dezeen Awards 2025 include Space House in London<\/a>, which was renovated and extended by British studio Squire and Partners, and the overhaul of the Palais Rameau exhibition hall in Lille<\/a> by Atelier 9.81 and Perrot & Richard.<\/p>\n

The photography is by Johan Dehlin<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A palette of local clay, sand, hemp and wood was used to create Hedeskov Living Lab, a research…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258612,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,33391,3602,1120,1398,96,107200,40339,40340,13220,56,54,55,10380],"class_list":["post-258611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-brick","tag-denmark","tag-design","tag-education","tag-entertainment","tag-hemp","tag-sectionall","tag-sectionarchitecture","tag-sustainable-architecture","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wood"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}