In 2004 Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch closed their set design and production office in Los Angeles and opened Roman and Williams in New York City. They are a married team who work together designing buildings and interiors from scratch. Their process is incredibly personal and every single detail is considered and custom made - they are what they make.

the Ace Hotel (and it’s restaurants) on the corner of Broadway and West 29th Street.  RS: We did the Ace at a time when culture was shifting. It is not so much about a glamorous veneer as it is about an authenticity that is spontaneous, unselfconscious and improvised. The narrative is about freedom, the idea that you can trash the place, that it’s anti-designed.

The Standard Hotel. RS: We were following our own instincts. We’ve always been interested in early modernism, before it became too distilled and lost a sense of detailing and materiality. We wanted to be at a standard that felt glamorous and sexy, crafted, refined and not at all kitsch. We envisioned an aura of timelessness that was not weighted down with memory.