One of Europe’s top suppliers of pottery, planters and garden‑care products has moved into a new fully circular headquarters, designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), one of the world’s leading practices in timber design. Commissioned by Dymak, the 2,800‑square‑metre HQ is a major milestone for the Danish firm, bringing design, logistics and management together under the one roof.
Opening its doors to much fanfare this week, the new headquarters is organised as a continuous circular loop, a form BIG says creates a flexible internal layout that allows teams to adapt workspaces to meet Dymak’s changing demands. Inside, the building is lined with wood, clay and cork, whilst recycled bricks extend across the ground floor and into the surrounding paths and courtyard.
The building’s most striking feature, however, is its radial cross‑laminated timber (CLT) roofing system. Forty‑four CLT frames, arranged in a starburst pattern, form a grid‑like envelope that BIG says honours “Denmark’s half‑timbered architectural tradition” while also demonstrating the strength and versatility of mass timber. The radial frames act as the primary load‑bearing system, distributing forces evenly and giving the building its distinctive circular geometry.
Whilst above the timber structure sits a roof fully fitted with 880 bolted‑on photovoltaic panels, tilted southward to maximise solar. The roof also doubles as an acoustic buffer, shielding the courtyard’s “green heart” from background noise.
It comes after Wood Central reported that BIG is advancing plans to design what may be the world’s most beautiful airport in the Himalayas. One of the big winners at the World Architecture Festival in Miami last year, the Gelephu International Airport is slated to rise near Bhutan’s border with India, in one of the most seismically active regions on the planet. Unlike conventional airports built from concrete and steel, its vast structure will rely on mass timber, with glulam beams and columns forming a giant quake‑proof diagrid.
