Roman and Williams Guild: An Interior Where Objects Are Put to Use
Roman and Williams Guild brings furniture, lighting, objects and dining together in a way that changes how an interior is encountered. Opened in December 2017 by Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch, the Soho project includes the studio’s home shop and the French restaurant La Mercerie. Objects that might otherwise be observed on a display shelf become part of a meal.
The official project account records a 7,000-square-foot setting within an 1857 landmark building. A lower level adds a bookstore, found objects and a private dining space. The programme gives the interior several tempos: browsing, sitting, eating and looking more closely at the things around the table. [1] [2]
Craft at the scale of the room
The Guild presents Roman and Williams’ furniture and lighting alongside work by international artisans. The studio’s own account emphasizes natural materials, construction and the possibility of maintaining and repairing its original designs. That concern with making extends from freestanding objects to architectural details, including bespoke hardware and the studio’s Waterworks fittings.
A handle, a joint or the edge of a table can contribute as much to the Guild’s character as the room’s overall composition. The arrangement encourages close observation through ordinary actions: opening, sitting, eating and handling. Construction and finish become part of the experience of an object, alongside its silhouette and appearance. [1] [2]
La Mercerie and the threshold between programmes
La Mercerie provides the Guild with an active dining interior. The studio describes tall windows, blue velvet banquettes and tiled walls, with a marble bar at the junction between the restaurant and shop. Tableware comes from Roman and Williams or the artisans represented by the Guild.
The position of the bar is especially telling. A transition between retail and hospitality can feel abrupt when one programme ends and the other begins. Here, an inhabited threshold gives the two uses a common point of reference. Guests need not understand the entire concept in advance; moving, sitting and using the objects makes the relationship apparent. [3]
A collection held together by setting
The Guild’s official account names makers working in different places and materials, including Japanese cut-glass artist Kimiko Yasuda, Danish ceramicists KH Würtz and Tokyo potter Kansai Noguchi. Wallpaper’s opening coverage likewise describes the project as a combination of gallery, restaurant, library and shop.
Such a range could easily become a catalogue without a clear spatial identity. The design question is how to preserve the differences between objects while giving them a setting that feels coherent. The Guild’s answer can be read through the overlap of domestic and public functions. A table is simultaneously an object to examine and a place where people gather; ceramics carry both visual interest and an immediate purpose. [4] [5]
The interior as a working proposition
Eating and shopping share a setting at the Guild, allowing objects to move between display and use. The restaurant gives visitors time to sit with the furniture and tableware; the shop places those objects within a wider collection of materials and makers. Both activities contribute to the experience of the same interior.
A meal offers a particular kind of encounter with design. A glass has weight, a chair supports the body and a ceramic vessel takes its place on the table. At the Guild, these impressions can inform what visitors choose for their own interiors. The connection between hospitality and retail rests in that opportunity to spend time with an object before taking it home. [2] [3]
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