Site Specific: Demi Lune Sauna

WERCK Workshop - Mecklenburg Lake District, Germany, 2024

After studying together at Berlin’s University of the Arts, Nora Noack and Samuel Barckhausen founded WERCK Workshop in Dresden in 2024. As suggested by their studio title, Nora and Samuel weave together academic and research activities with an enthusiasm for getting their hands dirty and working closely with collaborators, clients and contractors.

For this recent project in the German countryside a humble shed has been subtly tweaked; a single room is changed and the quotidian structure suddenly becomes a tiny civic institution. The solid, formerly closed-up volume is cut open and the new interior intervention steps back from the facade creating a threshold. This gap between the existing fabric and the new construction frames the new inner facade element, creates a useful porch space and erodes the boundary between the building and the landscape in which it sits.

WW At the heart of Germany‘s Mecklenburg Lake District, a former public toilet dating from the GDR era has been transformed into an atmospheric and welcoming sauna. Once a purely utilitarian structure, the building now serves as a place for relaxation and gathering within the small rural community.

Through a series of precise, almost acupuncture-like interventions, the existing structure has been carefully reorganised, creating barrier-free access for the building‘s long-standing secondary uses as a woodshed and workshop. After years of serving merely as storage, the building has been re-connected to electricity and water. Its new programme gives the house a renewed identity, acknowledges the value of the existing fabric, and carries it forward into the next generation.

For the sauna, a carefully proportioned opening was cut into the masonry towards the forest, framing a contemplative view into the surrounding landscape. A recessed loggia adds spatial depth while creating a sheltered threshold where neighbours can pause and gather. The intervention remains deliberately restrained, allowing the building to retain its robust and unpretentious character. The adjoining timber store now provides an additional layer of insulation, while the warmth generated by the sauna naturally seasons the stacked firewood.

The distinctive semicircular sauna window gives the project its name and defines both the exterior and the interior. As darkness falls, the Demi Lune Sauna begins to glow from within. Inspired by the project‘s name, and crafted from surplus facade material, a small nocturnal companion accompanies the building: an owl-shaped privacy screen that can be positioned by guests whenever additional seclusion is desired.

Two locally sourced glacial boulders were carefully positioned as stepping stones in front of the entrances, inspired by the Japanese kutsunugi-ishi traditionally found at the threshold of tea houses. The timber sauna structure is insulated with hemp, while every detail has been designed for longevity, straightforward maintenance, and future repair by local hands.

A photovoltaic system powers the sauna entirely with renewable energy while also supplying parts of the village with locally generated electricity. The bespoke cabinets, lighting, door handle and maple hooks were designed specifically for the project in collaboration with Arne Maxim Koll.

NOTES

Many thanks to Samuel Barckhausen for his help in compiling this post.

For more work by WERCK Workshop visit their website here.

Photography © WERCK (Samuel Barckhausen)

Posted 3rd August 2026