Farmworker’s House / Nidus

Architects: Nidus
Area: 100 m²
Year: 2024
Photographs: Volker Conradus
Manufacturers: Dornbracht, FSB Franz Schneider Brakel, Aldoo Jacober for Bazzani, LUMİNA, Mawa Design, Nidus Objects, Winckelmans
Lead Architects: Annelen Schmidt-Vollenbroich, Ana Vollenbroich
Products Used in This Project: Bathroom Fittings – TARA by Dornbracht
Design Team: Paula Averbeck
Technical Team: Dagmar Triestram
City: Norden
Country: Germany

Farmworker’s House residential project designed by Nidus in East Frisia, Germany has revived the architectural clarity and regional identity of a 1960s brick home originally built as part of post-war mass housing. The house, once modernized with unsympathetic alterations, has been carefully restored to reflect its original modest character. Retaining the vernacular use of red brick and local craftsmanship, the renovation maintained the structure’s simple form and integrated it within the surrounding landscape of the Wadden Sea National Park. Completed in collaboration with regional artisans, the project preserves traditional detailing, particularly in the roof structure, and enhances the minimalist interior using oiled pine wood, whitewashed plaster, and period-specific furniture. A new custom wall cabinet designed during the process encapsulates the conceptual essence of the house.

The brick house in East Frisia, originally constructed in the 1960s as a farmworker’s residence, consists of a main building and an adjacent small barn. Built according to a standardized plan, it reflects the widespread housing strategies developed in post-war Germany.

Designed to address general housing demand, the house was built with simplicity, using regional materials such as red brick and relying on local craftsmanship. This type of self-reliant dwelling played a key role in shaping the cultural and architectural landscape of northern Germany during the 1960s. By the time the house was discovered in 2020, much of its original simplicity had been altered through later additions, including plastic roof extensions, external shutters, and painted window frames, which disrupted its initial clarity.

The intention for the property was to serve as a weekend retreat. Rather than implementing drastic changes, the design approach focused on preserving the understated character of the building while re-emphasizing the subtle quality of local construction techniques. Working in collaboration with regional artisans, the renovation restored the house’s original appearance and emphasized details such as the finely executed roof work. The result is a structure that now integrates quietly and naturally with its surrounding context of open fields, meadows, and the nearby dike of the Wadden Sea National Park.

The interior space continues the theme of restraint and clarity, using a palette of oiled pine wood, whitewashed plaster, and carefully selected vintage furniture from the 1960s and 1970s. A small wall cabinet, custom-designed during the project, draws directly from the house’s conceptual framework. It serves as a distilled representation of the project’s aims—a small, carefully crafted object mirroring the building’s own character as a modest architectural artifact.