Wind turbines are tough to recycle. These architects are transforming them into micro homes

Sitting inside the minimalist-chic interior of Nestle, you’d never guess it used to be a wind turbine.

From the outside, though, the tiny home’s former life is more apparent. Nestle has a caravan-like aesthetic: a cream-colored, elongated metal box topped with four solar panels and a single skylight. Inside, glass doors and windows at each end create a surprisingly light and airy space in the compact 35-square-meter (376-square-foot) pod.

Nestle — a loose homonym of “nacelle,” the part of a wind turbine containing its engine — is made from a decommissioned, 20-year-old V80 2MW turbine donated by Business of Wind, a Dutch company that purchases used turbines for reuse.

Marking the first time a nacelle has ever been used for housing, the Dutch building code-compliant home is an ambiti