KIRKBI, CEBRA, and NIRAS receive award for the best Danish construction collaboration
The team receives the Collaboration Award 2026 for the outstanding ongoing collaboration on the Innovation Campus in Billund, Denmark.
The 50,000 m² mass-timber Innovation Campus is well underway, earning KIRKBI, CEBRA, and NIRAS the shared award for an exceptional and innovative collaboration.
Pushing the boundaries across disciplines
“The winning team has, to a remarkable degree, demonstrated how courage, dialogue, and shared ambitions can translate into a collaboration that delivers real added value in construction,” the award citation reads.
“You have shown what happens when leadership, priorities, and a clear commitment place collaboration at the core of creating a building”
The jury highlights the collaboration model as a strong alternative to a turnkey contract in a complex project:
“The project’s collaboration model is a trade-by-trade-based contract and involves the client, operations, users, architect, engineer, construction management, and early involvement of selected trade contractors – with a strong focus on schedule and budget.”
“The project’s collaboration model is a trade-by-trade-based contract and involves the client, operations, users, architect, engineer, construction management, and early involvement of selected trade contractors – with a strong focus on schedule and budget.”, The Collaboration Award
Leading the building design, landscape, and interior, CEBRA has worked closely together with the entire team, and the end users. Based on trust and openness, the team has worked together for 2.5 years throughout the detailed design phase, sharing an entire extra floor in CEBRA’s head office.
Highlights environmental initiatives
“The result is a 50,000 m² innovative, four-storey building with six overlapping modules, play areas, and atria that connect more than 5,900 employees from around 90 countries. The building is constructed using an FSC-certified timber structure, contributing to a significant reduction in carbon emissions. The project aims to achieve LEED Platinum certification, with a focus on energy efficiency, materials, biodiversity, and water conservation,” the award citation reads.
“The team stands as a strong example that high quality, innovation, and responsible resource use can be realised when all parties work openly, responsibly, and towards a shared direction”, it concludes.
Thank you to KIRKBI and NIRAS for your continued close collaboration and commitment to realise the ambitions we’ve set.
About the award
The ‘Byggeriets Samarbejdspris 2026’ recognises and celebrates projects that apply collaborative methods to achieve greater innovation, less waste, more bio-based building materials, or stronger cross-disciplinary collaboration.
Behind the Danish award stands the professional network Lean Construction-DK Netværket and the philanthropic foundation Boligfonden Kuben.
For further information