The Standard Grill:  By contrast to the Brutalist concrete form of the Standard Hotel building that rises18 stories above the High Line, the new restaurant, which is set beneath the High Line’s trellis, was designed to respond to the context and history of its neighborhood. The scale, materiality and detailing all take into careful consideration the experience of the pedestrian and people at street level. The highly detailed interior features a palette of familiar materials, furnishings and finishes that have been rediscovered and updated. The bar area has a milky palette, while the restaurant is darker and more meaty – milk and meat. Desiring to create a floor of copper, Roman and Williams researched many options and ended up figuring out how to cover the floor in 480,000 copper pennies laid into wet epoxy grout.

Standard 18th Floor:  The design for the eighteenth-floor club at the Standard was inspired by everything from Windows on the World, to wood-focused Brazilian design, to the inside of a Bentley, to tall trees and rivers. The floor plan is very organic and looks like a river—it’s quite sensual, featuring stadium seating which is very topographical. Roman and williams was very much playing with the idea of nature versus culture. The esthetic is one of sparkling, shimmering glamour, with the magical quality of those great 1940s clubs that are transporting and exclusive. The eighteen foot ceilings allow nature to be a great reference—the center of the bar is Roman and Williams' take on a huge glossy tree- as though guests are in a shimmering treetop looking out over the city. With a challenge to create an interior that holds as much interest as the view, a very sensual aesthetic was chosen- with rich materials such as alder, brass, rose mirror, cream leather, burl wood and a sparkling carpet, allowing for constant discoveries on the inside as well as the outside.

Guestrooms: In their second project for Andre Balazs Properties, Roman and Williams are the interior architects for the new Standard Hotel in the fashionable meat-packing district of Lower Manhattan. Roman and Williams’ challenge has involved reinterpreting the successful Standard brand in a way that complements the industrial and prominent setting on New York’s far West Side. More than 300 guest rooms, several restaurants, and a rooftop pool and nightclub are all part of the firm’s scope. A piece of cake.