“Düsseldorf is very international considering its size.”

The poetic sounding Nidus comes from Latin and means nest. It is the name that lawyer Ana Vollenbroich and architect Annelen Schmidt-Vollenbroich gave the architecture firm that they set up in 2016. Openness, entrepreneurial spirit, a good deal of courage and excellent taste are the cornerstones on which the company is based. Ana and Annelen met on a postgraduate course in real estate economics in Frankfurt. Through a personal contact, the couple managed to acquire two neighbouring properties from the 1900s in Kaiserswerth. They remodelled the houses and sold them again – Nidus was born. These days, they don’t just create extraordinary properties, they also undertake building and renovation work themselves, design furniture, run a gallery and support artistic and cultural projects. In 2024, Architectural Digest magazine included Nidus in its list of the 100 most influential international designers for the first time – the ultimate accolade.

The projects showcased on your website are far removed from mainstream housing. After those first two houses in Kaiserswerth, you purchased a post-war building on Schillerstrasse that had been designed by architect Bruno Lambart. What was it about this property that piqued your interest?
Annelen: Its hidden beauty. Almost everyone loves a property from the turn of the century, whereas post-war modernist buildings only really come into their own in context, when you consider how much work society had to put in to rebuilding destroyed cities. That dedication shines through in those properties. And we’re also fascinated by this period from an architectural history point of view: style-wise, the preceding 30 years gave the architects nothing to draw from, so where did they take their inspiration from? Bruno Lambart, for example, looked to the US for ideas. Which is why the building on Schillerstrasse doesn’t look like a typical residential building from the 50s. It’s got huge windows facing the street. It was unusual and quite progressive back then for people to live ‘on show’ like that.

Ana: At the time we bought the property, we were lecturing at the University of Siegen. Over the course of three semesters, we photographed and catalogued 70 buildings in Düsseldorf with the students. But not the buildings that everyone knows. We photographed the everyday architecture, the built mass that forges the city’s identity. This work, in turn, spawned our idea for the architecture gallery. Nobody knew us when we came to Düsseldorf. Initially, we worked below the radar as it were and then we had the idea for the gallery and it went down really well! Perhaps that’s because visiting galleries is part of day-to-day life in Düsseldorf and is just easier to do than in other cities. Düsseldorf people are inquisitive, very communicative and interested in discussion and debate.

Since your work on Bruno Lambart House, you’ve been designing furniture.
Annelen: Bruno Lambart’s widow gave us all his ink drawings. He had designed the furnishings himself, including a lamp that can be seen in a picture of him. We created our lamp with his sketch in mind and decided to design one piece of furniture for each property that we remodel – as a token of our work on the buildings. Our projects take between three and four years. And because we put a lot of heart and soul into them, we often find it difficult to let the properties go again. So these pieces of furniture are a part of the project that we can keep. They’re made to order in Düsseldorf.

Ana, you’re a lawyer, and you’re an architect, Annelen. Why do you make a good team?
Ana: For us, law and architecture are not that different. Both disciplines ultimately aim to shape how people live. Law creates the canon of rules, the moral compass, and architecture provides the spatial context of how, where and in what circumstances people come together.

You’re currently in the process of renovating a former church from the 1970s on Ottostrasse in Gerresheim, which you intend to use yourselves. How do you find properties like that?
Ana: We found the church on ImmoScout [online real estate platform]. We wrote to the New Apostolic church, which told us there was going to be a bidding process. There were three days left until the bid was due and we weren’t in the area. So we sent one of our employees there to take photos and to submit our offer. Two weeks later, we got a call congratulating us on having bought the church.

You bought it unseen. That’s what I call a willingness to take risks! Düsseldorf has got many post-war buildings, which should suit you, as you mainly work with existing stock. Are there any other factors that make Düsseldorf an attractive place to locate your business
Annelen: We find Düsseldorf very liveable. It’s very international considering its size. You hear lots of different languages being spoken and get the feeling that it’s home to people from all around the world. And you can be in Antwerp or Amsterdam in just two hours.
Ana: The Japanese influence is also brilliant and architecturally inspiring. And the Academy of Arts too, because it attracts interesting people to the city. Düsseldorf is a welcoming place. It also offers a unique combination of culture and business. But they’re not parallel worlds that don’t want anything to do with each other, they actually work together. Gustaf-Gründgens-Platz is a great example. It’s a square whose buildings bring culture and business together to create an impressive overall look. For me, this is Düsseldorf’s DNA, its core, its nucleus.

Your style can be described as poetic clarity, in the field of tension between sensuality and austerity. Your materials are natural and sensual and the design language is strict. What is the philosophy behind this?
Annelen: Well, we are German (laughs)! No, seriously: I'm always looking for clarity. Discovering beauty in the essential, in simplicity, can be so appealing. I come from a classical architectural background and it is important to me that architecture has a strong design component. However, we create and design stages for life, which is naturally subject to constant change. In this respect, I believe that architecture should not impose itself, but neither should it hide. We create strong identities with a clear but iconic design language. Nevertheless, I design from my gut. Designing is a very emotional process for me, I can't help it.
Ana: It may be that in Germany we sometimes have a tendency to be too sober. I mean, it's also part of the German DNA in design and architecture. But it needs a nice feel, something emotional. The materials we use are always of a high quality, so that they age beautifully and acquire a patina; you should enjoy touching them. Despite all the clarity, there has to be warmth.

Where do you go in Düsseldorf when you want to switch off?
Annelen: To the forest! When I moved here, I didn’t realise that there’s a large area of forest right near the city. At the weekend, we often go for walks with our two dogs in Hubbelrath and by the river in Rotthäuser Bachtal.

What places in Düsseldorf do you show your friends when they come to visit?
Annelen: The Ehrenhof, the Tonhalle concert hall, the Academy of Arts, the Dreischeibenhaus tower, Schmela House, and Königsallee – for us an urban masterpiece that continues to work well and is highly frequented. And somewhere that not many people know is Stummhaus on Breite Strasse. It’s one of Paul Bonatz’s most beautiful buildings.
Ana: Yes, I’ve always thought that it’s the most beautiful building too, in the style of brick expressionism. Take a closer look some time. The pointing in the brickwork varies, sometimes it’s deeper, sometimes less so, creating a relief. When I was still working as a lawyer, I interviewed with a law firm that announced it was moving to Stummhaus in the near future. And I just thought to myself: ‘great, where do I sign?’ Working there could have opened my eyes sooner to the fact that my real love is architecture.

nidus.com

Text: Ilona Marx
Interview photos: Markus Luigs
and other images provided by Nidus