Oppenheim Architecture, with offices in Miami, Aspen, Basel, and Tirana, celebrates its twenty-fifth year delivering work that captures the “Spirit of Place.” Founded in 1999 by Chad Oppenheim, the firm has built a global reputation for creating landmark architecture that harmonizes with its natural context, blending innovative design with climate and landscape.
Oppenheim Architecture’s work spans commercial, private, and public spaces, with each initiative celebrated for its lasting positive impact. Among the firm’s iconic projects is House on a Dune, a Bahamas dwelling inspired by 400-year-old island architecture that elegantly captures the changing of light and passage of time. In Switzerland, the Muttenz Water Purification Plant further showcases the firm’s ability to create poetic synergy with the environment, integrating vital infrastructure with a protected forest, while underscoring water’s essential role as the source of life. The iconic Ayla Golf Clubhouse in Jordan captures the elemental beauty of the rolling desert landscape. In Miami, the mixed-use Ten Museum Park provides a haven for its residents, with luxury apartments, a sky garden, and rooftop pools, atop a podium of commercial spaces. Oppenheim continues to work with the language of the landscape with its Desert Rock project, a singular hospitality experience in the ancient mountains of Saudi Arabia that prioritizes ecologically-minded planning, construction, and operations.
As a global practice, the firm encompasses an international team of seventy-five architects, interior designers, planners, dreamers, and technicians, all united by a shared vision of excellence. Oppenheim Architecture has received over ninety awards, including more than sixty from the American Institute of Architects (AIA), a National Design Award from Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, as well as the American Prize for Architecture from The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design.
Founding Principal Chad Oppenheim reflects on the firm’s growth, stating, “I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve built over the past twenty-five years. To think that we started in my apartment in Miami and now have such a presence on the global stage is truly remarkable. It’s a testament to the dedication of our team and the power of bold, world-changing ideas.”
From the start, Oppenheim Architecture has been driven by the belief that architecture and its environment should exist in harmony: a philosophy of designing and building with the land rather than on it. Coined as “Spirit of Place” by Oppenheim, this approach guided the firm’s beginnings in 1999, when a small team working out of his apartment designed their first project: Ilona, Miami Beach condominiums that prioritize spaciousness and privacy. The firm quickly gained recognition in Miami, delivering award-winning projects like Villa Allegra and Miami Beach Penthouse.
In 2009, the firm expanded internationally with the opening of a European office in Basel, formalizing an ongoing collaboration between Oppenheim and fellow Cornell University graduate Beat Huesler. Under Huesler’s leadership, Oppenheim Architecture Europe has designed spaces such as the Enea Headquarters and Villa Kronbühl and is in the midst of ongoing major projects across Europe, including in Greece, Italy, Albania, and more.
“It’s been an incredible journey to be part of Oppenheim Architecture,” says Huesler. “We’re pushing the boundaries of modern architecture, doing work that really matters, and I’m excited to see the firm continue to progress in the decades ahead.”
The firm’s innovative work is chronicled in Spirit of Place, a monograph that details Oppenheim’s philosophy of building with the land, rather than on it. Oppenheim is also credited as the Editor of Lair: Radical Homes and Hideouts of Movie Villains, a pioneering book about the movie villains who often live in architectural splendor. Lair has received international acclaim for both its content and its design, having been awarded by AIGA’s International Competition for Notable Graphic Design.
As Oppenheim Architecture looks to the future, the firm is expanding its interior design capabilities with a dedicated studio in Europe. It is also in the process of opening an office in Albania, a culmination of their fruitful collaboration with the local Albanian community. This new chapter promises to continue the firm’s tradition of delivering innovative, visually striking projects across the globe. “I founded the firm with the desire to achieve the optimal balance between creativity and pragmatism, function and experience, construction and aesthetic,” Oppenheim reflects. “It has been an incredible twenty-five years, and I look forward to seeing what we’ll achieve in the next.”
About Oppenheim Architecture
Oppenheim Architecture is an architecture, interior design, and planning firm based in Miami, Florida, with offices in Aspen, Colorado, Basel, Switzerland, and Tirana, Albania. With over 90 firm distinctions, including over 60 AIA Awards, a National Design Award from Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, and the American Prize for Architecture from The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design, Oppenheim Architecture’s work is based on both a physical and spiritual contextual sensitivity, supported by evocative and economic design solutions. The firm designs with a sensitivity towards humanity and nature, harmonizing with the surroundings of each context. Projects spanning 25 countries are crafted to establish the perfect balance between artistry and economics – a timeless architecture that is as beautiful as it is functional. The firm specializes in mixed-use hotels and resorts, retail, commercial offices, and residential buildings worldwide that all serve to enhance life.