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himmelzimmer is an architectural design practice in Melbourne dedicated to investigating
an architecture that evolves from a continuous dialogue of imaginative and practical thinking.
As a studio we need to be able to define what building/design we aspire to the most:
For us this is ‘a room in the sky’, a ‘himmelzimmer’.
From its open window we can see the endless sky encouraging us that our ideas should be
dream-like without boundaries. With its window closed we can focus on the work on our desk
in front of us, the technical delivery of our ideas.
All our designs evolve from the dialogue of these two perspectives which are both essential
in the delivery of well-executed buildings that inspire and transcend the ordinary.
Our work is at its most successful where our window to the world is in a constant state of
in-between, where it is simultaneously closed and open.
We started in 2003 as studio505.
Following studio505’s closure in 2016 we are continuing our work as himmelzimmer
himmelzimmer is an architectural design practice in Melbourne dedicated to investigating
an architecture that evolves from a continuous dialogue of imaginative and practical thinking.
As a studio we need to be able to define what building/design we aspire to the most:
For us this is ‘a room in the sky’, a ‘himmelzimmer’.
From its open window we can see the endless sky encouraging us that our ideas should be
dream-like without boundaries. With its window closed we can focus on the work on our desk
in front of us, the technical delivery of our ideas.
All our designs evolve from the dialogue of these two perspectives which are both essential
in the delivery of well-executed buildings that inspire and transcend the ordinary.
Our work is at its most successful where our window to the world is in a constant state of
in-between, where it is simultaneously closed and open.
We started in 2003 as studio505.
Following studio505’s closure in 2016 we are continuing our work as himmelzimmer
himmelzimmer is an architectural design practice in Melbourne dedicated to investigating
an architecture that evolves from a continuous dialogue of imaginative and practical thinking.
As a studio we need to be able to define what building/design we aspire to the most:
For us this is ‘a room in the sky’, a ‘himmelzimmer’.
From its open window we can see the endless sky encouraging us that our ideas should be
dream-like without boundaries. With its window closed we can focus on the work on our desk
in front of us, the technical delivery of our ideas.
All our designs evolve from the dialogue of these two perspectives which are both essential
in the delivery of well-executed buildings that inspire and transcend the ordinary.
Our work is at its most successful where our window to the world is in a constant state of
in-between, where it is simultaneously closed and open.
We started in 2003 as studio505.
Following studio505’s closure in 2016 we are continuing our work as himmelzimmer
The client approached himmelzimmer to seek a re-design of the initial Fook Kuin Medical Center due to issues with the selected operator, and a large reduction in budget from the initial design. Working with the existing structural grid, as the piling had already occurred on site for the previous design, himmelzimmer adopted a design approach that was heavil influenced by the climatic conditions of Borneo.
The building was sculpted to create a unique form through the use of shading fins and undulating balconies, with swathes of vegetations strategically placed outside of ward rooms and where heavy patient traffic was likely.
The interior layout was efficiently organised to support intuitive wayfinding, with the departmental arrangement compacted to minimise unnecessary circulation space.