About Us

Our Approach

Apiary Studio endeavors to create landscape spaces that are accessible, sustainable, and break from the mold. We treat each of our projects as a functional and flexible solution that challenges convention and responds to a specific problem with optimism, honest materiality, and good humor. We view idiosyncratic site constraints as some of our most valuable creative opportunities, and prefer that the design process be a response and next chapter to a site’s history, rather than a carte blanche overhaul. Our greatest strength is our ability to work with rather than against the myriad particularities, sensitivities and sometime inconveniences of the endlessly layered fabric of Philadelphia.

We pride ourselves on being nimble and adaptable, and take equal enjoyment in developing large scale site thinking as we do with meticulous, granular detailing. We consider ourselves generalists. Our design and construction teams work in close and constant partnership, and are stronger for their cross-collaboration. Over the course of the last decade since our founding, Apiary Studio has taken on work spanning boutique residential gardens to larger and more complex spaces like school grounds, commercial properties, religious campuses, and small parks. We excel at the mission-driven work of partnering with nonprofit organizations on urban Philadelphia projects, and bring a sustainability and affordability-focused ethic that imbues our clients with the confidence and assurance that their schedules, budgets and values are top of mind as the design process gets underway.

Our clients select Apiary Studio for our devotion to craft, which in recent years has focused increasingly on using recycled and repurposed materials wherever possible, capturing and interrogating construction and demolition waste for second chances, and sourcing new inputs from as close to each job site as we can. It is our deeply held belief that often the lightest touch is the most revealing solution.

VIEW OUR DESIGN PROCESS

Our Team

Apiary Studio was founded by Hans Hesselein in 2015, and is today a small design and construction team co-operated by Hans Hesselein and Martha Keen. Our practice provides the full suite of landscape architectural services, including including site inventory & analysis, masterplanning, schematic design, visualization and rendering, as well as construction documentation and administration. With few exceptions, we build most of the landscapes that we design. This model facilitates tremendous harmony between the design intent and the built work, and allows for quick adaptation when site conditions present surprises, or chance opportunities arise to incorporate unforeseen elements into a design on the fly. Our carpenters possess skills that allow us to explore highly crafted and innovative construction techniques, and our gardeners are adept at editing and maintaining landscapes as they grow and evolve.

Dan Alvarez

Dan Alvarez brings more than two decades of construction experience to Apiary Studio, with a varied set of experiences that have spanned bespoke furniture making and metal fabrication, set construction, and ground-up commercial and hospitality buildouts at multiple scales and timelines. A task-oriented problem solver, the specific strength that Dan brings to our team is the breadth of his skills and his eagerness to figure things out. Dan studied studio photography at the University of Southern Florida and spends his free time fixing up his house, riding dirt bikes, and treasure hunting.

Allyson Church

As a landscape designer, Allyson draws from her from backgrounds in the arts and farming. She holds a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design and worked for several years in regenerative farming and urban agriculture before pursuing her MLA at Temple University. While studying ecological restoration, Allyson’s fields of interest have included ecological landscape design in urban settings, and the multifunctional use of historic cemeteries as urban green spaces. She strives towards a holistic life that balances art-making, community engagement, landscape design, growing flowers and vegetables, and spending time with friends and loved ones.

Licenses & Certifications: Certified Playground Safety Inspector

Hans Hesselein, Principal

Possessing hands-on knowledge of construction, landscape installation, and nursery production, Hans’ design sensibilities are rooted in the physical experience of working directly with plants and materials. Hans holds a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from North Carolina State University, and has spent time working internationally in Germany as well as at several New York City landscape architecture firms. He previously served as Executive Director of the Gowanus Canal Conservancy in Brooklyn, NY, where he was responsible for developing and managing green infrastructure projects, watershed planning initiatives, and volunteer stewardship programs. For several years Hans taught two courses on the history of Landscape Architecture at Jefferson University. He serves on the strategic oversight committee of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.

Licenses & Certifications: Registered Landscape Architect + LEED Accredited Professional

Tucker Jones

Tucker Jones brings an architect’s sensibility and problem solving to carpentry and woodwork. Tucker holds a BS in Architecture from Temple University and an MArch from Portland State University with a Certificate in Public Interest Design. He trained as a timber framer in Charleston, SC and worked previously for Philly-based Tiny WPA helping to develop their custom fabrication program and mentoring their building heroes. Much of his career has been focused on designing and fabricating custom and specialty pieces of art and architectural detailing. He most loves designing and building the things the people touch and interact with. Tucker can be found exploring Philadelphia and cooking for family and friends.

Martha Keen

A laborer at heart, Martha is a partner at Apiary Studio and responsible for its horticulture and operations arms. She is a graduate of the Professional Gardener Program at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA, and holds a BA in philosophy and the history of math and science from St. John’s College in Santa Fe, NM. Previously, Martha worked at Prospect Park in Brooklyn, NY for the design and construction department in a hybrid desk-field position that offered first-hand look at multiyear public capital projects. Most recently, she was employed as the landscape manager and rosarian at Wyck in Germantown Philadelphia, a National Historic Landmark and America’s oldest rose garden. She serves on the alumni council of Longwood Gardens and on the organizing committee for the Woody Plants Conference at Scott Arboretum.

Teddy Pickering

Teddy Pickering grew up on the coastal plain of south New Jersey, which activated a lifelong fascination with ecoregions, local flora, and plant communities. After serving in the US Army, Teddy earned his Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from Thomas Jefferson University where he was closely integrated in their novel Park in a Truck program and later taught for the department. Having worked both as a landscape designer and a field supervisor at a number of regional practices, as well as a frequent volunteer and community organizer for tactical landscape interventions in Philadelphia, Teddy brings a strong suit of skills to our field team, especially with respect to natural land management and assessment, plant health, and sensitive earth work.

Chris Smith

A graduate of the University of the Arts graphic design program, Chris worked for many years as a graphic designer and art director in the music and fashion industries before starting his own design/build company, Work In Progress, in 2016. An earthly craftsman and long time collaborator, Chris joined Apiary Studio full time in 2023 bringing his focus on design functionality, materials acquisition, building science, and historic preservation to the team.