CEBRA

CEBRA is a Danish architecture studio founded in Aarhus in 2001 by Mikkel Frost, Carsten Primdahl, and Kolja Nielsen, three architects who met while studying at the Aarhus School of Architecture. The practice developed from their shared interest in creating an alternative to conventional architectural offices and has grown into an internationally active studio working across architecture, urban planning, landscape-related design, research, and strategic development. The studio’s work covers a broad range of building types and scales. Its portfolio includes housing, schools, childcare and social-care facilities, science and cultural institutions, offices, visitor centres, urban districts, master plans, and major adaptive-reuse projects. CEBRA’s projects are found principally in Denmark and the wider Scandinavian and European markets, with additional work in the Middle East and North America. Notable examples include The Iceberg residential development in Aarhus, the Experimentarium science centre near Copenhagen, the Skamlingsbanken Visitor Centre, Nye new-town master plan, the LEGO Innovation Campus in Billund, and the Al Hosn master plan in Abu Dhabi. CEBRA presents architecture as both a cultural and practical discipline. Its stated approach combines artistic ambition with close attention to context, sensory experience, social interaction, well-being, and long-term adaptability. The studio’s educational projects, for example, seek to support varied learning patterns and physical activity rather than treating schools as collections of conventional classrooms. Its research work also examines how spatial design affects cognition, inclusion, and well-being. This is reflected in the studio’s WISE research and development unit and in projects such as the Sam Ibrahim Building at the University of Toronto Scarborough. A recurring feature of CEBRA’s architecture is the translation of local conditions into contemporary forms. The Iceberg uses irregular roof profiles to improve daylight and views; Æbeløen reinterprets the scale, materials, and roof forms of Aarhus’s historic Øgade district; and the Skamlingsbanken Visitor Centre draws on the surrounding moraine landscape and the site’s history as a place of public debate. Other projects use adaptive reuse to reduce demolition and extend the life of existing structures, as demonstrated by the transformation of a former soft-drink bottling plant into the enlarged Experimentarium. The practice has received national and international recognition, including awards connected with The Iceberg, Æbeløen, the Skamlingsbanken Visitor Centre, the Experimentarium, Nye, and the Al Hosn development. In 2025, CEBRA merged with the Canadian architecture firm Lemay and became part of Lemay Group. The merger expanded CEBRA’s international network while preserving its identity, leadership, strategic focus, and presence in Denmark. CEBRA therefore continues to operate as an architecture-led practice while benefiting from a larger international platform.

Mikkel Frost, Carsten Primdahl, and Kolja Nielsen met at the Aarhus School of Architecture and collaborated on academic work before establishing their own practice. All three completed Master of Architecture degrees at the school in 1996. After graduation, Frost and Nielsen worked at Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects, while Primdahl worked at Arkitema. They remained connected and continued developing the idea of a new studio. They founded CEBRA in Aarhus in 2001. The early practice was shaped by the founders’ shared education and by a desire to combine strong architectural authorship with a more collaborative and alternative model of practice. Mikkel Hallundbæk Schlesinger, who had graduated from the Aarhus School of Architecture in 1999 and previously worked at 3XN, joined the office at an early stage as its first employee. His involvement in developing the Abu Dhabi branch and leading work such as the Al Hosn master plan contributed to his becoming a partner in 2017. CEBRA gradually developed a portfolio spanning housing, schools, care facilities, science and cultural buildings, urban planning, and large-scale landscape-linked developments. In Denmark, the studio became particularly associated with projects that connect contemporary design to local context and public life. The Iceberg in Aarhus transformed part of the former container port into a residential district, using sharply varied roof forms and angled building volumes to improve daylight and views. The Children’s Home of the Future in Kerteminde translated familiar Danish domestic forms into a care environment intended to provide children with a sense of home and human scale. The studio also expanded its work in education and public institutions. Skovbakke School combines education for approximately 650 students with daycare for about 100 children, organizing learning spaces around shared areas and activity-oriented plazas. The Experimentarium project in Hellerup adapted and expanded a former bottling plant rather than replacing it. Completed through work carried out between 2011 and 2018 and inaugurated in 2017, the project enlarged the science centre while adding exhibition, teaching, event, café, and roof-terrace facilities. Its copper-covered helix staircase became a prominent architectural and visitor feature. CEBRA’s urban-planning work includes Nye, a new suburb north of Aarhus planned for a long-term population of approximately 13,500 people. The 150-hectare plan seeks to combine urban density and community life with access to nature, biodiversity, and resource-conscious development. Construction began in 2014, while the planning framework is intended to guide development over several generations. The project received the Danish Urban Planning Prize in 2022. The studio’s international portfolio includes the Al Hosn master plan in Abu Dhabi, which reorganizes the area around the historic Qasr Al Hosn fort and Cultural Foundation as a public cultural landscape. The scheme uses contrasting desert and planted urban zones, with the Al Musalla prayer hall integrated into a water feature. CEBRA has also worked on projects in Albania, including Mount Tirana, the Vjosa Wild River visitor-centre network, and the proposed redevelopment of Skenderbeu Stadium in Korçë. In Canada, the Sam Ibrahim Building at the University of Toronto Scarborough applies research into inclusive and sensory learning environments. The firm’s work has received awards and shortlistings from Danish and international institutions. In 2025, CEBRA merged with Lemay, a Canadian architecture firm. The transaction placed CEBRA within Lemay Group and expanded its international network, while the studio continued under its own identity and leadership and maintained its existing strategic direction and Danish operations.

• 2025

  CEBRA joins Lemay Group

  [1]CEBRAen.wikipedia.org

  CEBRA merges with Canadian architecture firm Lemay and continues as an identifiable practice within Lemay Group.

• 2022

  Nye wins the Byplanprisen

  [1]CEBRAen.wikipedia.org

  CEBRA’s nature-based master plan for Nye receives Denmark’s Urban Planning Prize.

• 2017

  Mikkel Schlesinger becomes partner

  [1]CEBRAen.wikipedia.org

  Schlesinger is made a partner after contributing to the studio’s development and international work.

• 2017

  Experimentarium is inaugurated

  [1]CEBRAen.wikipedia.org

  The renovated and expanded science centre in Hellerup opens with enlarged exhibitions and new public facilities.

• 2015

  Abu Dhabi branch is established

  CEBRA establishes a branch office in Abu Dhabi, supporting its expansion into Middle Eastern projects.

• 2001

  CEBRA is founded in Aarhus

  [1]CEBRAen.wikipedia.org

  Mikkel Frost, Carsten Primdahl, and Kolja Nielsen establish the architecture studio after meeting and studying at the Aarhus School of Architecture.

A research-informed, context-sensitive architecture practice combining distinctive artistic expression with social well-being, sensory design, adaptability, and lower-impact urban and building strategies.

• Residential architecture · 2015

  The Iceberg

  A 208-apartment development on Aarhus’s former container-port waterfront, designed with JDS, SEARCH, and Louis Paillard during the conceptual phase. Its four L-shaped wings and varied rooflines are intended to provide daylight and bay views while creating a distinctive new urban landmark.

• Science and cultural architecture · 2017

  Experimentarium

  An adaptive reuse and expansion of a former soft-drink bottling plant in Hellerup. The project substantially increased exhibition capacity and added teaching, workshop, event, café, picnic, staff, and roof-terrace facilities. A copper-covered DNA-inspired helix staircase connects four levels.

• Urban planning · 2006

  Nye master plan

  A 150-hectare master plan north of Aarhus intended to accommodate approximately 13,500 inhabitants over a long development period. The plan combines varied housing, shared urban life, proximity to nature, biodiversity, and resource-conscious planning under the principles of variety, life, and balance.

• Workplace architecture

  LEGO Innovation Campus

  A timber-built campus in Billund designed for KIRKBI and intended to accommodate approximately 1,700 employees. Six interwoven modules, open atria, play areas, green spaces, and a central PlayWay support collaboration and creativity; the campus also includes a large collection of LEGO brick types.

• Urban and cultural planning · 2019

  Al Hosn master plan

  A 140,000-square-metre revitalization of the area around Abu Dhabi’s Qasr Al Hosn fort and Cultural Foundation. The plan creates a public cultural park with contrasting desert and planted urban landscapes and includes the partially submerged Al Musalla prayer hall.

• Higher-education architecture

  Sam Ibrahim Building

  An academic and student-services building at the University of Toronto Scarborough designed around inclusive learning and sensory variety. Its classrooms support different forms of teaching and collaboration, drawing on CEBRA’s WISE research into neuroarchitecture, cognition, and well-being.

• Residential architecture · 2020

  Æbeløen

  A residential development in Aarhus’s Øgade area that extends the historic neighbourhood with a new publicly accessible street. Varied roof pitches, dormers, brick façades, and connected public spaces reinterpret local architectural characteristics in a contemporary development.

• Social-care architecture · 2014

  Children’s Home of the Future

  A 24-hour care facility in Kerteminde for marginalized children. Organized as four linked, domestic-scale sections, the project combines familiar Danish house forms with adaptable spaces intended to provide security, intimacy, and a sense of home.

• 2025

  Merger with LemayM&A

  Background

  CEBRA had developed an international portfolio while retaining a strong Danish and European base. Joining a larger Canadian architecture group created an opportunity to broaden its network and international reach.

  Action taken

  CEBRA merged with Lemay and became part of Lemay Group, while retaining its identity, leadership, strategic focus, Danish presence, and existing markets.

  Aftermath

  The merger expanded CEBRA’s international platform; no transaction value was provided in the cited material.

  Source

1. 1CEBRAen.wikipedia.org