[2] Cooper's mother recognised his interest in buildings and talent in drawing them, and at a young age was apprenticed to local architects John Hall and Frank Tugwell from 1885 to 1889. Cooper subsequently worked as an assistant for Walter Green Penty, Demaine and Brierley, and Goldie, Child and Goldie.
Cooper was particularly adept at winning competitions, and several of his commissions, including the Royal Star and Garter Home, Hull's Guildhall and Lloyd's were derived in this way.
[3] Cooper went on to design Marylebone Town Hall and Library, the headquarters of the Port of London Authority (at 10 Trinity Square) and the offices of Lloyd's, Leadenhall Street.
[1] He also designed the war memorial at Cranleigh School in 1921 and subsequently the substantial Connaught Block and Devonport Speech Hall (1930).
He died of a heart attack on 24 June 1942, whilst at work in London as the Treasurer of the Royal Academy of Arts.