In conversation with: Philip Jaffa, Partner & Design Director, Coopers Hill

In big news, London-based landscape architecture and masterplanning studio, Scape Design, has merged with East-Asian landscape architecture firm, Coopers Hill. The merger constitutes a growth strategy which sees Coopers Hill become the first global hospitality and lifestyle-focused landscape architecture practice.

The former Scape Design’s London office now becomes Coopers Hill’s European base. This European branch will be piloted by Philip Jaffa, Founder of the former Scape Design, now Partner and Design Director at Coopers Hill, and will focus on the European and North African market while supporting the growth of the Dubai team.

Headquartered in Singapore by Managing Partner Allen Kerton, Coopers Hill welcomes the London office as its seventh international studio — the first outside of Asia and the Middle East.

Allen Kerton (left) and Philip Jaffa (right) | Image credit: Coopers Hill

A self-proclaimed ‘aging hippie’ with a working philosophy that endeavours to reconnect humanity with nature, the award-winning Philip welcomed Hotel Designs into his rebranded London office — a space in a converted theatre situated just around the corner from the (soon to open) Six Senses London, in Bayswater — to tell us a little bit more about this ‘strategic step forward’ and the evolving concepts of luxury and sustainability in hospitality design.

Hotel Designs: What is the motivation behind this merger? Why now?

From Coopers Hill’s perspective in Asia, they’re looking to expand their brand and break into the European market. On my end, this merger enhances everything Scape Design did. More importantly, post-COVID, the global hospitality industry has exploded in ways no one quite expected. Demand has skyrocketed and every year more and more opportunities for work present themselves. The problem wasn’t winning work — it was managing it.

Fairmont Tagazhout | Image credit: HKS Architects

During COVID and post-Brexit, I lost a lot of great staff, and hiring skilled people has since become incredibly difficult; we’ve been in the frustrating position of turning work away simply because we don’t have enough hands to take it on. So, when Coopers Hill approached me, it was like music to my ears. This merger provides the scale and resources needed to move forward.

HD: Given Coopers Hill’s existing presence in the East, for you, is this merger about expanding into the Asian market?

Prior to creating Scape Design, I worked on many projects in the Middle East. But when I founded the business, what I saw was that no one was truly tackling the European market for landscape architecture in hospitality. Everyone was chasing opportunities in Dubai, but I saw something different. There was a gap, and I filled it. As such, Scape’s core base was built across the Mediterranean and southern Europe, where I found the work to be incredibly soulful. To be honest, even to this day there aren’t many independently owned landscape practices in Europe specialising in hotels.

Now merged, Cooper’s Hill has an immediate portfolio of great European projects, Middle Eastern projects, and North African projects to add to their dominance of the Asian market. Jointly, we’re covering 70 or so countries across the globe. 

HD: What makes your work unique, and how has it evolved over the years?

When I first started Scape, I was focused entirely on hotels. But over time, that expanded. Most hotel developers also work in residential, so naturally we began taking on residential communities, master planning, private estates, mixed-use developments, and retail-hotel complexes. Eventually, our portfolio covered seven different sectors. But the common thread through all our work is luxury. That’s why I call it ‘luxury lifestyles.’

HD: How do you define ‘luxury’ in relation to landscape design?

In the context of landscape design, true luxury is about space. It’s about creating environments where people can breathe, reconnect, and feel at ease.

One of my personal design philosophies is about ‘width.’ In architecture, people often focus on maximising square footage in a vertical sense, but in landscape design true luxury comes from width — expansive, open spaces that provide freedom and a sense of connection with nature. That’s what landscape architects create.

Forest For Change by Philip Jaffa | Image credit: London Design Biennale by Ed Reeve

HD: As a designer of environments, how has the perception of sustainability in hospitality evolved over the past decade?

Ten years ago, sustainability was more of a tick-box exercise. Developers and brands would include some green elements just to say they had addressed it, but it wasn’t always a core focus. Now we’re seeing genuine efforts to integrate project sites sustainably into their wider environment. Though one of the biggest misconceptions in sustainable landscape design can be the overemphasis on green walls, green roofs, and similar features. While they may look good, they don’t always address the core environmental issues. The real challenge is to preserve existing and natural systems where possible, to avoid completely reshaping the natural landscape, disrupting water flows, and damaging ecosystems.

I’m always trying to maintain that sustainable and ecological balance in any project. 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.

Main image credit: Project for Everyone