Roman and Williams was founded by Stephen Alesch and Robin Standefer in 2002 as a multidisciplinary architecture and design studio focused on creating buildings and interiors rooted in a modern paradigm of craftsmanship and history.
Kindred spirits drawn together by an innate artistic devotion, Alesch and Standefer met on the set of Hollywood films, the first vehicles for their storytelling. They brought a shared love of nature, geometries, form, and historical archetypes to the worlds that they created. They began their practice after an acclaimed actor asked them to create a home that would last longer than a film set. They named their studio Roman and Williams after their maternal grandfathers, with the vision of creating something that would live beyond them.
In the two decades since its founding, Roman and Williams has created renowned hotels, restaurants, homes, and cultural spaces around the world. Celebrated for their ability to translate timeless traditions into a modern context, Roman and Williams has become synonymous with beauty and integrity, creating spaces that heighten the senses and objects that elevate the everyday.
From their first collaborations, Alesch and Standefer have expanded their vision for living, growing new branches in their family tree: their original designs for furniture and lighting, the restaurant La Mercerie, and RW Guild and Guild Gallery on New York’s Canal Street, where they nurture a contemporary guild of artists and artisans through their shop and exhibitions.
Roman and Williams Buildings and Interiors is an architecture and design practice that has created acclaimed hotels, restaurants, homes, and cultural spaces around the world. Founded by Stephen Alesch and Robin Standefer in 2002, the practice is based in New York and includes a team of architects and designers united by a shared philosophy, who collaborate closely with the principals to realize their creative vision.
Since its inception, Roman and Williams’ work has been bound by an ethos rather than a single style. Roman and Williams creates buildings and spaces that collapse past, present, and future. Their designs evolve historical archetypes, translating the history, materials, and techniques of the past for a modern context. They animate their work by unearthing stories, amplifying history, and evolving symbols to reimagine spaces and objects. Roman and Williams’ projects are immersive environments that heighten emotions, where the experience subsumes the design.
Roman and Williams has received hundreds of awards for innovation in the fields of architecture and design, including the Cooper Hewitt National Design Award for Excellence in Interior Design and the Sir John Soane’s Museum Foundation Visionary Award. The practice offers services in architectural design, interior design, strategic visioning, branding, and furniture and object design.
- Nationwide
Over the course of their career, Robin and Stephen, have been honored with prestigious accolades, including the Cooper Hewitt National Design Award for excellence in Interior Design, citations from Fast Company as two of the Most Creative People in Business, and being named to the WSJ Magazine’s 2017 class of Innovators. Roman and Williams has topped Architectural Digest’s annual “AD 100” list eight times since 2012, and most recently, the firm has been recognized by the Sir John Soane’s Museum Foundation as “Visionaries” in 2018.
Roman and Williams’ collection of work has been honored with numerous awards throughout the years, including the Lawrence Israel Award and in 2020, has been recognized for the fourth time as member of the prestigious ELLE Décor A-List designers. Most notably, in 2014 the firm received America’s highest honor for achievement in design, the Smithsonian’s National Design Award for excellence in Interior Design.
2021
NoMad London: AHEAD Global 2021 Ultimate Accolade Award
Roman and Williams: 2021 Architectural Digest Top 100 Designers
NoMad London: European Hotel of the Year 2021