Klein is a specialist design practice in healthcare masterplanning, architecture and interiors. With the largest and most experienced health design team in the country, we are passionate about uplifting the health and well-being for communities around Aotearoa.
Led by managing director Rachael Rush, our entire studio is dedicated to design and technical excellence in healthcare, mental health, wellbeing, aged care and retirement environments. From business case development right through to selecting the right hardware, we bring decades of experience to every strategic idea and every detail. We’ll help you deliver ambitious goals to create lasting, positive impact on the communities you serve – built environments where staff can work to their highest potential, where patients feel valued and nurtured, and where whanau can participate in the healing journey of loved ones.
A trusted source of knowledge and solutions, we prompt and challenge user groups during concept design to unearth their deeper needs and aspirations. With a spirit of respect and curiosity, we enquire, learn and digest, then we ideate, co-design and innovate. We gather and connect complex and often siloed issues in a holistic and co-ordinated way to find new ways of thinking about problems and to deliver better design solutions. Our goal is to look beyond the immediate project constraints and engage with long-term site opportunities to deliver transformative, future-proofed projects.
Klein is driven by a social purpose – to deliver better and more equitable health infrastructure for all our communities. From birthing units to general medicine to mental health to specialist clinics to aged care (both public and private), we are passionate about raising health and wellbeing outcomes for all. The right design solution has the power to change lives for the better – a belief that drives us to create award-winning buildings and set new benchmarks for healthcare in Aotearoa.
We are experts in salutogenic design for mental health – enriched, democratic environments that focus on users’ psychological, social and spiritual needs, with an emphasis on nature, natural light and fresh air. Award-winning projects such as Tiaho Mai acute mental health inpatient unit at Middlemore Hospital have demonstrated the effect an environment focused on wellbeing speeds and improves recovery. We bring these principles to all our projects to create beautiful, healing spaces.
We seek to enhance Mana Whenua presence, visibility, and participation in the design of healthcare environments, so tikanga Māori can flourish. Culturally capable healthcare environments improve outcomes for tangata whaiora and their whanau, providing a place of safety and familiarity. Consultation and co-design shapes the model of care and the architecture that supports it. Principles such as actively engaging and supporting whānau, treating tāngata whaiora in a culturally appropriate and sensitive manner, and considering a tikanga Māori approach to recovery must all be supported by the physical setting.
As designers and specifiers in a resource-intensive industry, we help our clients make meaningful carbon emission reductions in the construction and operation of their buildings. We know the orientation and shape factors for low-energy buildings, the non- and low-toxic building materials to use, the systems and technology to track resource use, and the requirements for disassembly at a building’s end of life. We are long-standing members of the New Zealand Green Building Council, with in-house registered Green Star professionals, and are working toward a zero-emissions economy in both our own operations and for our clients.
With a dedicated, specialist health team of some 50 practitioners, Klein is the largest healthcare facilities designer in Aotearoa New Zealand. We committed to the health sector in the mid-1990s employing our first clinical practitioner, and have had this ‘client voice‘ as a key part of our team ever since. Working closely with user groups in the early phases of design, we are here to help our clients evolve their model of care and to transform their physical environments. We bring expert technical knowledge and guidance to every dimension of your project.
Comprehensive design solutions for hospital campuses, specialist medical facilities and clinical spaces.
View ProjectsWe provide a full spectrum of services - from site masterplanning, business case support and clinical health planning, to new building architectural design and documentation, spatial planning and interior design.
View ProjectsInnovative solutions and urban design for multi-storey apartments, community housing and communal spaces.
View ProjectsFull-service architectural services for self-care apartments, assisted living and residents’ facilities.
View ProjectsWe intimately understand the role master planning plays in providing clarity to the bigger picture. By taking a visionary approach, our services provide clients with a clear path to future goals and objectives – allowing them to unlock development potential from their key assets.
With extensive experience supporting significant health projects through the business case phases around the country Klein has a clear understanding of a 5-case process and the options and inputs required to inform them.
Our talented designers bring project briefs to life with an inspiring mix of innovative and practical architectural ideas. Working to address setting, site, and cultural and regional influences, we deliver solutions to meet project scope, budget and any unique requirements.
Our in house knowledge allows us to support clients with the development of clinical services planning requirements, challenging and testing briefing, design functionality critical adjacencies and flows, schedules of accommodation and writing of functional briefs.
With nearly 30 years in the field, Klein offers unparalleled experience in New Zealand hospital and healthcare facilities. Our expertise covers a full range of services and best practices from brief development right through to business case and project feasibility.
Collaborative design and inclusive planning are words with meaning for us; we actively engage and lead user group meetings and workshops with broad representation of users to support and challenge review of service delivery and design requirements.
We provide design and documentation service for new or refurbished internal environments, from spatial design to selection of furniture and fittings for our clients. Our approach to interior projects is to create beautiful and healthy spaces that are at once functional and durable.
Have a passion for life-changing architectural design? Looking for an architecture firm with excellent career development opportunities?
