Djernes & Bell
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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 renovation of Reyneke Winery translates the vineyard’s biodynamic ethos into architecture rooted in geology and reuse. Fermentation tanks, invasive timbers, and steel pipes are reincorporated as new building elements, while biochar and wine marc enrich clay renders with antibacterial properties. The result is a winery where production, landscape, and material care form a continuous cycle.

News
Djernes & Bell has been selected to take part in the design competition for Rubjerg Knude Lighthouse 2.0. Over the coming months, four invited teams will develop creative proposals to reimagine the stair and lantern of this extraordinary landmark in the raw coastal landscape.

News
Djernes & Bell have been appointed to transform Foreningshuset Sundholm 8. Located within the historic Sundholm complex on Amager—once a municipal arbejdsanstalt (workhouse) and today a vibrant social and cultural quarter—the project aims to create an open, welcoming, and inclusive community house.

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
Students at KADK have recreated constructive details from Hedeskov Centre for Regenerative practice in 1:1 models, showcasing the use of site-based materials and the connections between old and new.

Work
Djernes & Bell have designed and built the entrance pavilion for Syd for Solen music-festival 2025. ‘City-Portal’ is conceived as both structure and ritual—a point of passage that marks the transition from the city to the temporary world of music, gathering, and collective experience. It takes its inspiration from Copenhagen’s historic city gates—Vesterport, Østerport, and Nørreport.
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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.









Mejeriet Torup
Zealand, Denmark
Historic Spaces
The building’s original dairy layout informs its new life. The central hall, once used for milk collection and distribution, now forms the heart of the cultural programme, hosting concerts, exhibitions, and shared events. Flanking spaces that formerly held storage and fermentation tanks provide more intimate rooms for workshops, performances, and meetings.
Minimal Interventions
Architectural changes are conceived as minimal and precise. A later floor addition has been removed to create a double-height co-working space, connecting ground and first floor while restoring the building’s original proportions. New openings link the café kitchen to the central hall, and subtle connections extend activity into the courtyard and front garden. These interventions improve flow and accessibility without erasing the traces of history.
Material and Energy Strategies
The project prioritises working with what already exists. Original cork insulation was uncovered and retained, highlighting the building’s earlier layers of innovation. No new insulation or lime plasters were added; instead, the building is organised through strategies of thermal zoning—ensuring that energy is focused where it is needed most. The approach emphasises respect for existing materials and minimal intervention.
A Cultural Framework
Today Mejeriet stands as a cultural landmark in rural Sjælland, offering spaces for concerts, exhibitions, performances, food events, and community workshops. The architectural transformation does not overwrite the building’s layered history but frames it for continued creative use, ensuring its role as both local anchor and open cultural platform.
Tags
- Heritage
- Transformation
Year
2025-Ongoing
Size
600 sqm
Photos
Samuel Causse, Peter Blæsild, Djernes & Bell
Illustrations
Djernes & Bell
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