Kirkebjerg Søpark

Kirkebjerg Søpark

Denmark's first residential development built entirely with straw — 13 terraced homes in Kirkebjerg Søpark demonstrating that bio-based construction can meet the full demands of mainstream housing development.

Søbredden is a development of 13 terraced homes located within Kirkebjerg Søpark in Brøndbyvester, Denmark. Developed by AKF and designed by Danielsen Architecture, the project marks the first time a professional Danish developer has delivered a full residential development using a timber-straw construction system. The homes form part of Denmark's "4 to 1 Planet" initiative, which aims to reduce the carbon footprint of new housing by 75% before 2030.

The exterior walls are delivered as full wall elements using EcoCocon's industrially prefabricated straw panels, in collaboration with Roust. The wall system is complemented by timber framing, hemp insulation, and seagrass-based ventilation filtration — all selected for their natural, breathable properties. The buildings contain no plastic and no harmful chemistry in the wall assembly.

Natural ventilation strategies replace conventional mechanical systems, reducing both operational energy use and the carbon cost of building services. The independently verified carbon footprint reaches 8.1 kg CO₂eq/m²/year — dropping to 5.4 kg with updated 2025 emission factors. That is 53% lower than the Danish housing average. Prior to the terraced homes, AKF completed two communal straw buildings on the same site in 2023, functioning as a guest room, caretaker office, workshop and laundry — built using the same construction method.

PROJECT PARTNERS

Architect: Danielsen Architecture
Landscape: Danielsen Urban Landscape
Engineer: Artelia
Contractor: JDH-BYG
Client / Developer: AKF
Further collaborators: Ekolab, Cubic Group, Norconsult, Notech, DTU, Rambøll, Bark Rådgivning

"

We have a particular focus on reducing our here-and-now CO₂ emissions. Our calculations show that over the first 16 years, the buildings store more CO₂ than they emit. And if we implement the upcoming 2025 emission factors, we go from 8 kg CO₂eq/m²/year down to 5.3 kg

Jørgen Jensen

Project Development Manager at AKF

Project image

KEY FEATURES

  • 13 terraced homes, 1,400 m², Brøndbyvester, Denmark

  • 430 m² of EcoCocon prefabricated straw wall panels — pre-assembled into complete wall elements with window and door openings integrated, then transported and installed on site

  • Primary materials: straw, timber, hemp, seagrass — zero plastic, zero harmful chemistry

  • Natural ventilation with seagrass filtration — no conventional mechanical systems

  • DGNB Gold certified

  • Nordic Swan Ecolabel

  • DGNB Heart certification — indoor acoustics, humidity regulation, thermal comfort

  • Part of Denmark's "4 to 1 Planet" initiative

  • First full residential development by a professional Danish developer using timber-straw construction

  • All 13 homes sold out before completion

See What's Possible with Our System

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