Djernes & Bell
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Work
Rubjerg Knude Lighthouse 2.0 is a new stair and restored lantern for one of Denmark's most visited natural landmarks — formed from the cliff's own minerals, accessible to all generations, and rooted in the geological and human layers of time.

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The renovation of Reyneke Winery has begun. Old concrete fermentation tanks are being cut, reused, and reassembled — transforming the cellar into a new visitor and tasting sequence rooted in reuse.

Work
Drawing on the Wadden Sea’s dynamic ecosystem, the participants develop performances, narratives, sculptures, and installations that work directly in and with a landscape shaped by tides, wind, and human stewardship.

Work
Mejeriet i Torup is an adaptation and reuse of a 600 m² former dairy, later artist studio and residence, into a cultural centre for art, performance, and community. The project preserves the industrial and artistic character of the existing building while introducing minimal, carefully placed interventions that enable new functions and connections.

News
Hedeskov Living Lab has been nominated for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture / Mies van der Rohe Awards 2026. Building as landscape—going beyond notions of reuse and circularity, this project explores a reparative approach of “making good” as a new architectural practice.

Work
The Hedeskov Centre for Regenerative Practice Living Lab is the transformation of a former rural school in Djursland through a tectonic and bio-regional approach, embedding the building within its geological and ecological context. The project embraces the principle of ‘making good,’ prioritizing repair, material circularity, and the integration of hyper-local and up-cycled materials over demolition and new construction.
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Djernes & Bell is an architectural practice based in Copenhagen with a special interest in what already exists: built, material, human, and natural. Founded in 2020 by architects Justine Bell and Jonas Djernes, the practice builds on the partners’ 15+ years experience working with transformation and restoration projects in Denmark and the UK.
Djernes & Bell work to preserve and improve existing built, natural, and social structures through reparative design, careful restoration, and the use of low-carbon materials. Cross-disciplinary methods fuse artistic and scientific research—from ancient crafts to ecological innovation. Intersecting material science, traditional building knowledge, and nature-based design, the practice transforms buildings and landscapes with the aim of supporting life in all its forms.
Collaborating across scientific, artistic, and civic sectors, Djernes & Bell bring extensive experience in adaptive reuse and transformation, working across both rural and urban contexts.
This website is a catalogue of the studio’s projects and working processes.
Djernes & Bell work across all stages of a project—from early concept and feasibility to detailed design, construction, and long-term adaptation. Architectural services include the reparative transformation and restorative reuse of existing buildings, as well as landscape strategies and low-carbon new construction systems. Each project is developed with a deep sensitivity to context, history, materials, and use, resulting in spatial solutions that are technically rigorous, materially grounded, and culturally meaningful.
Work often begins with strategic analysis, participatory workshops, and feasibility studies that bring users, stakeholders, and local communities into the design dialogue. This early-stage approach ensures that spatial strategies are rooted in real needs and the actual possibilities of a given site, creating long-term social and ecological value.
Alongside architectural design, Djernes & Bell engage in cross-disciplinary research into materials, agro-ecology, nature-based solutions, and restorative value chains. Material mapping, hands-on workshops, and experimental prototyping are used to develop innovative approaches to construction—from biobased materials and circular systems to the revival of traditional craft techniques.
Projects span both rural and urban contexts and often sit at the intersection of built environment, landscape, and community life. The aim is to create architecture that supports ecological resilience, strengthens local cultures, and enables places where life—human and more-than-human—can thrive.
Nyvej 16C, 1.sal
1851 Frederiksberg
Copenhagen
Team
- Justine BellArchitect / Founding Partner
- Jonas DjernesArchitect / Founding Partner
Awards
- EU Mies Award Nominee, HEdeskov Living Lab, 2026
- Dezeen Awards Longlist, Hedeskov Living Lab, Sustainability Category, 2025
- Renoverprisen, shortlist, 2025
- The Danish Arts Foundation, working grant, 2025
- The Architectural Review, New Into Old Award, shortlist, 2025
- Licitationen, Building Awards, finalist, 2024
- Danish Ministry of Culture, New National Architecture Policy, 2024
- The Danish Arts Foundation, working grant, 2024
- Realdania & Ny Carlsberg Fond, Stedet Tæller X, 2024
- Realdania, Funding for research & dissemination, 2023
- The Danish Arts Foundation, working grant, 2023
- Dreyers Foundation, START, 2022
- The Danish Arts Foundation, project grant, 2021
- Dreyers Foundation, new practice grant, 2020

We are always open to architects, students, and collaborators who want to be part of the rebalancing. If you see architecture as a means to repair, rethink, and regenerate—while shaping a more symbiotic future—we would love to hear from you. Please note that we receive many thoughtful applications, and unfortunately we’re not able to reply to every one.






News: Rubjerg Knude Fyr Win
May, 2026
Djernes & Bell have won the invited design competition for Rubjerg Knude Lighthouse 2.0, commissioned by the Danish Nature Agency (Naturstyrelsen Vendsyssel) with support from Realdania. Four teams developed proposals for a new stair and restored lantern for one of Denmark's most visited natural landmarks. The evaluation panel — comprising representatives from Naturstyrelsen Vendsyssel, Realdania, and Hjørring Municipality — awarded Djernes & Bell the highest possible score for quality: 10 out of 10.
Our proposal, Tiden & Sandet (Of Time & Sand), proposes a true cantilever stair in natural stone — each prefabricated tread anchored into the existing masonry and interlocked with its neighbours, so the stair is self-supporting with no central column and no intermediate structure. The same system has stood in Danish lighthouses for over 300 years. The stone is formed from the same minerals as the cliff itself: quartz, feldspar, mica. The stair becomes a geological extension of the landscape it stands in.
Viable existing steel from JAJA Architects' 2016 intervention is not removed but reimagined. Cut, bent, and worked locally by traditional smithing techniques — without remelting — it is transformed into benches, balustrades, entrance stairs, and a sheltering canopy. The combined climate impact of stone and reclaimed steel is up to 90% lower than a conventional construction.
The jury specifically highlighted the proposal's social sustainability — the creation of an inclusive experience for all visitors, with generous landings, seating, and a richly spatial entrance hall that allows everyone to encounter the lighthouse's history, whether or not they choose to climb. As the evaluation panel noted: "The proposal presents an integrated architectural approach of the highest possible quality — one that carries both the deep narrative of the site's geology and time, and introduces a new experience of the lighthouse as a bright, self-supporting spiral moving elegantly upward through the tower. Particularly highlighted is the proposal's sympathetic attention to ensuring an inclusive experience for all visitors."
We are delighted to carry Tiden & Sandet from competition into realisation, in collaboration with engineers Henry Berthelsen A/S.





