Danish architecture firm Djernes & Bell has completed the Hedeskov Living Lab, an innovative research and educational center in Rønde, Denmark, that serves as a "living laboratory" for regenerative practices. The project, which was recently shortlisted in the sustainable renovation category of Dezeen Awards 2025, demonstrates how architecture can actively participate in ecological repair while embodying sustainable construction methods.
Located on rewilded farmland, the center is dedicated to research and education on regenerative practices and consists of multiple structures, including a renovated old stone school building. The architects used a carefully selected palette of local materials including clay, sand, hemp, and wood, working in collaboration with UK-based circular material specialists Local Works Studio, local farmers, and craftspeople to source natural materials from the surrounding landscape.
"The project is built around the belief that architecture should no longer be an isolated object, but an active participant in ecological repair," explained Justine Bell, studio partner at Djernes & Bell. "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. 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."
The design team conducted an extensive survey of the local landscape to identify natural materials that could be incorporated into the construction, including clay, timber, bulrush, and typha fibers. The existing school building's structure was carefully conserved and restored using bricks discovered on-site. The ground floor received a new lining of clay plaster pigmented with a distinctive reddish-brown tone achieved through the use of local sand and linseed oil paint.
Inside the renovated school building, a dramatic double-height entrance hall serves as the central circulation space, connecting residency bedrooms and a classroom on the ground floor with a large meeting room and co-working space positioned above beneath the original timber rafters. The architects demonstrated their commitment to reuse by creating built-in cabinetry on the first floor from repurposed old floorboards, which were carefully removed and replaced to allow for the insertion of insulation.
An adjacent garage building underwent a more extensive transformation based on traditional Danish bindingsværk, or half-timbering construction methods. The architects constructed an entirely new wooden frame that was infilled with innovative hemp-lime panels, raised on sustainable limecrete foundations, and finished with a local clay floor. This approach showcased traditional Danish building techniques while incorporating modern sustainable materials.
"Unfired clay bricks, hemp-lime infill and clay plasters reinforced with typha fibers 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," Bell explained. She emphasized the extensive on-site reuse and re-crafting involved in the project, noting that all new internal walls were constructed from bricks found on site and all old timber floors were recrafted to create the project's custom joinery.
The complex also includes a new green-roofed shed housing a workshop and kitchen, built on the footprint of an old shed, as well as an open pavilion featuring a recycled brick floor. The timber structures of both new buildings have been finished in a deep shade of red, honoring the traditional aesthetic of Danish agricultural barns. Large circular windows and skylights form a unifying design motif that connects both the renovated and newly constructed elements throughout the site.
The center provides comprehensive facilities including educational and co-working spaces, accommodation for research residencies, and a barn workshop, all designed to support the facility's mission of advancing regenerative practices. As part of ongoing research conducted in partnership with Aalborg BUILD University, students will continuously monitor and track the center's internal climate, emissions, and moisture behavior to gather data on the performance of natural building materials.
"There was a huge amount of on-site reuse and re-crafting," Bell added. "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." The project competes alongside other innovative sustainable renovation projects in the Dezeen Awards 2025, including Space House in London by Squire and Partners, and the Palais Rameau exhibition hall renovation in Lille by Atelier 9.81 and Perrot & Richard.
