Every year, the harvest season brings a huge temporary increase in population to the fruit-growing region of South Limburg. Thousands of workers, mainly from Eastern European countries, assist local growers for a few weeks and return home after 65 days, when their contracts expire. Ciel Grommen and Maximiliaan Royakkers designed a mobile ‘House for Seasonal Neighbours’ for them in Borgloon.

There is heated debate about their living conditions. Are the accommodation on the farms adequate or comfortable? Is the work too intensive? Although pertinent, these questions do not reflect the issues that keep many seasonal workers awake at night, according to the Seasonal Neighbours collective, founded by architect and artist Ciel Grommen. By getting involved in fruit growing themselves and holding conversations with the workers, the group’s members were able to determine what needs the pickers have and what measures could temporarily improve their lives.