COOOP Design Studio is an award-winning design collective of Architects, Interior Architects and Service Providers under the creative and technical direction of Callie van der Merwe and Marcus Wilkins.

OUR PHILOSOPHY

Design for Behaviour

We apply human behavioural knowledge to design and curate highly successful social spaces within the built environment.

We have done so for almost 35 years and in this time we have learned a tremendous amount about how people behave naturally and intuitively within social environments like restaurants, cafes, clubs and bars.

With over 490 of these successful venues under our belt and years of research and observation into the qualities that make spaces successful, we are conﬁdent that we can create optimum spaces for the best human experiences and the best possible outcome for our clients.

Experience the Forest V Penthouse through these images. A room with a cozy bed and a lush green rug offers a tranquil retreat. The images highlight the soothing presence of greenery with a close-up and a blurred image of a plant, contributing to the ambiance. The carefully designed space, featuring a bed and a green rug, embodies 'Design for Behaviour,' ensuring comfort and relaxation in every detail.

Team

The core team members of COOOP.

Managing Director

Marcus Wilkins

Marcus is a multiple international award winning and celebrated Architect and urban planner with major projects across the Middle East and Pakistan. With a current working portfolio of over 30m sg.ft of projects Marcus has earned international acclaim for his successful conclusion of very complex and demanding developments.

Creative Director

Callie van der Merwe

Callie began his career as an Architect in the early 1990’s before changing over to Interior Architecture in the early 2000’s. Since then, he has completed multiple award winning and successful commercial interior spaces all over the world with a signature philosophical approach of design for predictive behaviour.

Global Sourcing Director

Pierre Burger

Pierre is an experienced Global Procurement Director with over 30 years in manufacturing, strategic sourcing, and supply chain management. Renowned for driving cost efficiencies and cultivating strong supplier partnerships, he has successfully led initiatives that enhance operational performance across diverse industries. With a strong focus on sustainability, he integrates ethical sourcing practices to develop innovative procurement strategies

Senior Associate

Calvin Janse van Vuuren

Calvin's architectural experience, compels him to explore the intricacies of form, function, texture and colour within his creative design.

With strong managerial skills, Calvin works with a global community of renowned artists, consultants and strategic teams. His design work is inspired by rich storytelling, interwoven into the fabric of each unique environment he creates.

Senior Associate

Roberto Zambri

Roberto's approach offers a considered and skillful blend of art and design to create engaging and holistic interior spaces.

His designs are based on a strong individual character of minimalism with a skillful blend of specific to region culture and arts, resulting in rich transcendent engaging spaces.

Procurement Manager

Melissa Yang

With a commitment to efficiency, value and quality, Melissa harnesses a global network of vendors to ensure a seamless and sustainable procurement process. With an acute attention to standards, Melissa optimizes supply chain solutions through her industry expertise, ensuring consistent excellence.

Design Technician

Monique Steenkamp

With over a decade of expertise in producing technical documentation of the highest standard in both Architecture and Interior Design, Monique has a keen eye for detail, process-oriented mindset, and is highly skilled in the BIM ecosystem ensure precision and innovation in every project. She’s the backbone of our technical excellence.

COOOP in Time

1992

EA Consulting Pvt Ltd. New Era

EA Consulting acquires new leadership under the director of Ahsan Siddiqui.

1997

Design Partnership Founded - South Africa

Design Partnership is founded in South Africa focusing on Architecture, Interior Architecture with a focus on human centric design in social spaces.

Services

We follow the standard RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) and AACA (Architects Accreditation Council of Australia) stages adjusted to client preference. In a nutshell they involve the following:

Brief Development

We assist in formulating a design brief by taking all touch points into consideration, understanding that we are designing for your customers. We take into account our human behavioural principals and consider things that limit the brief but can potentially fuel design ambitions.

Design Concept

In alignment with the brief and business drivers, a design direction is articulated for implementation combining best practice solutions from both in and outside category. This is achieved through various iterations of visually curated pieces that best tells a story of your brand within the physical space.

Implementation

Applying the design concept into the built environment we take into consideration the emotional and sensorial aspect of an interior space that will best articulate the design brief. This is achieved through technical construction documentation, bespoke joinery drawings unique FF&E schedules and intelligent value engineering.

Join Our Team

If you are interested in joining our team, view the career opportunities currently available.

Careers