Registered Practice, Coopers Hill announce their merger with Scape Design.
Hospitality & Luxury Lifestyle-focused landscape architects and master planners, Scape Design, has recently been acquired as part of the on-going growth of Coopers Hill Landscape Architects. Scape Design becomes Coopers Hill’s first European studio, located in London’s Bayswater, and Coopers Hill’s seventh international office, following from the 2023 opening of a Middle East office in Dubai.
Coopers Hill have designed an array of hotels and resorts showcasing luxury hospitality landscape design developed over the past 40 years. Headquartered in Singapore, and under the stewardship of Founder & Managing Partner, Allen Kerton CMLI, the firm’s work spans a diverse array of environments and ecosystems. By combining this with Scape’s award-winning portfolio of luxury hotels, resorts and lifestyle projects across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, the brand has positioned itself as a global one in the hospitality industry and kick-starting a new era for the practice.
Scape Design’s Founding Director, Philip Jaffa FLI, will now lead the growth of Coopers Hill in Europe and North Africa, whilst reinforcing the growth of the business across the Middle East and building on his reputation for the creation of award-winning landscapes spanning more than 50 countries over the last 24 years.
Industry-leading projects created by Scape include the Ritz-Carlton Rabat, Morocco; W Costa Navarino, Greece; Fairmont & Raffles Hotels at Katara Towers, Doha – the flagship property for the 2022 World Cup – and Como Laucala Island, Fiji. The firm’s landscape design at Mandarin Oriental Bodrum was recognised by the Landscape Institute while, two years ago, Scape was celebrated as Winner at the AHEAD MEA Awards and AHEAD Europe Awards for its Fairmont Taghazout Bay and Grecotel Corfu Imperial projects respectively. Scape has also received a Landscape Institute Award for Climate Action & Mitigation for its “Forest for Change”, an installation created for the London Design Biennale 2021.
The new Coopers Hill leadership structure will see Allen Kerton, with his distinguished career in global hospitality design spanning Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa, assume the overall leadership role of Managing Partner & Design Director, based in Singapore. Philip Jaffa will take on the role of Partner and Design Director, based in London.
Coopers Hill’s Partner and Design Director, Philip Jaffa, said, “This is the beginning of a new era for Coopers Hill and is an exciting proposition to be part of. It provides us with an incredible opportunity to drive sustainable and evocative landscape architecture solutions for the hospitality industry of the future, connecting humanity back to nature as the key touch point for health and well-being. Meeting Allen, a like-minded environmental landscape designer who cares deeply about the future of our planet, was key to my ‘yes’ to the merger.”
Coopers Hill’s Managing Partner & Design Director, Allen Kerton, said, “The merger with Scape is a significant milestone, allowing us to realise our ambition of providing a truly global service offering for our clients. Add to this our intimate knowledge and in-depth expertise of local environments and cultural influences, we are well-positioned to create meaningful places, experiences and memories by balancing architecture, luxury, and the wilderness of nature, regardless of where our projects are located.
Drawing inspiration from the forms, colours and textures of the natural world, we are committed to setting new industry standards, reconnecting people with the natural world while protecting and preserving our ecosystems.”
