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himmelzimmer is an architectural design practice in Melbourne Australia and Brighton UK
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

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’.

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

lotus

wujin, china

nanyang primary school

singapore

ng teng fong + jurong

singapore

the strand facade

melbourne, australia

155 queen st mall

brisbane, australia

Patterson Lakes Primary School

melbourne, australia

norwood secondary college

melbourne, australia

watsonia primary school

melbourne, australia

royal domain tower art façade

melbourne, australia

royal domain tower art façade

melbourne, australia

architect

studio505

completion date

2006

client

Far East Consortium (Australia) Pty Ltd

cost

$800,000

gross area

450m2

artist

Geoff Nees

main tower architect

Bruce Henderson Architects

structural engineer

Windward Structures

main contractor

FDI Contractors

photography

Sebastian Gollings + John Gollings

The Royal Domain Tower Art Façade was designed in collaboration with Australian artist Geoff Nees. Awarded the 2009 Best Contribution to Urban Art by the City of Port Phillip, the art façade is an addition to the exclusive Royal Domain Residential Tower on St Kilda Road in Melbourne.

Clad over five storeys of car park the new façade is an artwork of monumental urban scale that retains the elegant simplicity and subtle complexity possible in cut skin relief sculptures. The façade is made up of a series of stainless steel sheets with 25,000 intricate laser cut petals hand folded outwards. Light is paramount to the reading of the work and in a sense can be seen as its primary concern, despite and because of the fact that no specific lighting is required for the project.