Cohere Design Company Limited, a Hong Kong-based international landscape consultancy, has been recognized as Best Luxury Landscape Architect Studio in Hong Kong by Luxury Lifestyle Awards in 2026. With offices across Hong Kong, Toronto, and Manila, Cohere Design Company Limited delivers integrated design, planning, and project management services across global markets. In conversation with Alexander Chetchikov, President of the World Luxury Chamber of Commerce, Albert Cheng, Managing Director, discusses the firm’s perspective on evolving client expectations, interdisciplinary design, and the role of landscape architecture in shaping contemporary environments.

Alexander Chetchikov: Cohere Design was founded with a clear intention to respond to change. How has that founding principle influenced your leadership approach today?

Albert Cheng: Cohere Design’s founding principle of responding to change influences its leadership by fostering a dynamic, client-centric, and adaptable approach that embraces innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement to ensure designs remain relevant and impactful. This approach encourages leaders to be proactive in anticipating market shifts and client demands, promoting openness to new ideas and continuous innovation. It also emphasizes deep client collaboration to co-create personalized solutions and integrates various disciplines for flexible design solutions. Furthermore, it drives agile operations and a commitment to empowering internal talent, all contributing to a forward-looking leadership style.

AC: Your work spans multiple regions and project types. How do you maintain coherence in design philosophy across such diverse contexts?

AC (Albert Cheng): Cohere Design maintains coherence in its design philosophy across diverse contexts by deeply studying the interactions between people, the environment, time, and space to understand client and project needs. This approach allows them to develop comprehensive details and propose sound solutions, fostering flexibility and sustainability in their designs. Our company’s commitment to building better relationships between humans, nature, architecture, and culture is a guiding principle that ensures a unified vision, even when working across different regions and project types. Our global presence, with offices in Hong Kong, Canada, and the Philippines, further supports their ability to adapt designs while maintaining core principles. Additionally, Cohere Design emphasizes a multidisciplinary approach, integrating strategy, design, and technology to solve business challenges, which enables them to adapt to varied client requirements and project scopes.

AC: Cohere Design integrates landscape architecture with broader services such as urban planning and interior design. What strategic value does this multidisciplinary approach bring?

AC (Albert Cheng): Cohere Design’s multidisciplinary approach, integrating landscape architecture with urban planning and interior design, brings strategic value by fostering a holistic project vision and delivering more innovative and efficient solutions. This integration ensures all project aspects are considered from the outset, leading to cohesive designs that balance aesthetics, functionality, and performance. Key benefits include enhanced collaboration and communication, novel solutions arising from cross-disciplinary thinking, cost and time efficiencies through streamlined workflows, and seamless integration between interior and exterior spaces, ultimately creating spaces deeply connected to their environment and users.

AC: Customization is increasingly important in luxury development. How does your team approach personalization in client engagements?

AC (Albert Cheng): Cohere Design approaches personalization in client engagements by deeply listening to and understanding clients’ unique wants and needs to collaboratively create tailored solutions that go beyond expectations. This client-centric focus ensures that designs are personalized, reflecting the client’s vision and enhancing their environment. Their methodology involves studying interactions between people, the environment, time, and space to better grasp the true needs of both the client and the project, enabling them to develop comprehensive details and propose fitting solutions. This commitment to understanding individual client requirements is fundamental to their process, ensuring that each project is not only functional and beautiful but also deeply connected to its users and surroundings.

AC: Your company also offers design-and-build services. How does this influence project delivery and client outcomes?

AC (Albert Cheng): Cohere Design’s offering of design-and-build services significantly influences project delivery and client outcomes by integrating the design and construction phases under a single contract and team. This unified approach leads to several key benefits.

Firstly, it accelerates project delivery timelines by allowing for overlapping design and construction phases, often referred to as “fast-tracking”. Secondly, the design-and-build model provides greater financial certainty and potential cost savings. Builders are involved from the initial design meetings, offering real-time cost feedback and enabling value engineering to align the project with the budget from the outset. This early involvement helps prevent costly redesigns and unexpected budget overruns. Thirdly, this integrated method enhances communication and collaboration among all parties involved. This collaborative environment also contributes to higher quality results, as the construction team is in constant communication with the design team, ensuring the final product accurately reflects the original vision.

Finally, the design-and-build approach reduces risk for clients by consolidating responsibility for both design and construction with one entity. This single source of accountability minimizes gaps and potential disputes that can arise when managing separate contracts for design and construction. Cohere Design’s commitment to linking design ideas with practical construction through “Cohere Construct” directly supports these advantages.

AC: Cohere Design emphasizes the relationship between design and lifestyle. How do you interpret this connection in your projects?

AC (Albert Cheng): Cohere Design interprets the connection between design and lifestyle by focusing on creating higher quality, more balanced living environments that foster well-being and establish better relationships between people, nature, architecture, and culture. Their approach emphasizes providing flexible and sustainable designs that offer possibilities for enhanced living. This is achieved by deeply understanding client needs and the interactions between people, the environment, time, and space, enabling them to co-create personalized solutions that enhance a client’s environment and reflect their vision. The goal is to weave a sense of purpose, place, and belonging into everyday life, ultimately changing lives for the better.

AC: What differentiates Cohere Design in a competitive international landscape architecture sector?

AC (Albert Cheng): Cohere Design distinguishes itself in the competitive international landscape architecture sector through a foundational principle of responding to change, a commitment to building better relationships between humans, nature, architecture, and culture, and a holistic, client-centric approach. The company’s ethos is deeply rooted in attentively studying the intricate interactions between people, the environment, time, and space to thoroughly understand project and client needs, enabling the development of flexible and sustainable designs. With offices in Hong Kong, Canada, and the Philippines, Cohere Design possesses a broad international reach, allowing it to adapt designs to diverse contexts while maintaining core principles.

AC: Looking ahead, how do you see the role of landscape architecture evolving in global development?

AC (Albert Cheng): The role of landscape architecture in global development is evolving significantly, with a growing emphasis on sustainability, climate resilience, and human well-being. Landscape architects are increasingly tasked with addressing global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and urbanization by designing spaces that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also functional, adaptable, and environmentally responsible.

Ultimately, landscape architects are positioned as stewards of the land, playing a pivotal role in shaping the future of our built and natural environments to be more sustainable, resilient, and equitable.

This conversation positions Albert Cheng as a measured and forward-looking leader within the landscape architecture sector. Under his direction, Cohere Design Company Limited demonstrates a structured approach to integrating design, strategy, and execution across international markets. The interview reflects broader industry priorities, including adaptability, interdisciplinary thinking, and the evolving relationship between environment and lifestyle.

Discover more about Cohere Design Company Limited: http://www.coheredesign.com