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Stephen Williams architects was founded in 2000 in Hamburg on the strength of projects such as Malcolm McLarens Casino of Karaoke and Authenticity and the commission to design the German Headquarters of Universal Music in Berlin.

The office based in Hamburg has always worked internationally and the majority of projects are located outside of Hamburg mainly within Europe and Asia.

Address
Admiralitätstraße 71
Zipcode
20146 Hamburg
Qualifications

Stephen Williams (* in Port Talbot, Wales) studied Architecture at Birmingham Polytechnic from 1983 to 1986, graduating with Diploma from Canterbury College of Art in 1988. After working for London based Architects such as Piers Gough and Elia Zehngelis at OMA he located to Hamburg Germany in 1994. He collaborated with Architectural offices such as Christoph Ingenhoven, Bothe Richter Teherani and as design architect with William Alsop und Jan Störmer culminating with the award winning ‘Side Hotel’ in 1999.

Services Provided
Conceptual architectural design, urban design, architecture, refurbishment, interior design and product design.
Areas Served

Worldwide

Weltbühne in Hamburg

Restaurants & Bars

The café is pivotal element in the modern metropolis. It is a place of sociability, an object of nostalgia, a stage for inventing yourself and a place for creating relationships. Cafés are at the heart of urban myths in Europe and Northern America. They have attracted attention from authors and artists, insiders and outsiders, scholars and journalists. How to design a modern café with the traditional spirit typically found in a Parisian Boulevard Café or a Viennese Kaffeehaus from the bare bone? Together with gastronome Tim Seidel Stephen Williams Associates revitalized the concept of an ‘artistic’ theatre café and set the stage for a timeless meeting place in Hamburg’s inner city: the WELTBÜHNE.

From the first draft to the final construction, we shaped the idea of an inclusive space that is accessible and brings people together – where everyone can feel comfortable. A café should be a refuge for those who wants predominately consume time in our transitory existence. Here, you should be served with a coffee to stay instead of a coffee to go.

A sketch made on a paper table cloth during a night in a restaurant was the starting point of the creative collaboration that was more behavioural- than design-driven. In our understanding, a café accommodates the guest`s feelings as they enter and enhance their physical and psychological comfort so that communication can take place: Design follows activity.

Architecture has to be a backdrop and communicates when asked. Our aim was to establish invisible structures of signals and symbols of the café microcosm, which arrange themselves in harmony and density. Hereby evolves a narrative dimension of architecture and a spatial poetry of “between the lines” that invites people to thrive on dialogue. A restaurant creates conditions and the platform for the behavior of guests. We aspired a design of a café that doesn’t mind you but which you keep in mind – as a place of activity and relaxation. To belong, people need democratic places and platforms for communication. Or in the words of the Austrian café poet Alfred Polgar: „A café is for all who wish to be alone, but need company for this.“