“A piece of art”: Offenbach club Robert Johnson redesigned with hand-painted mural

Famed German nightclub Robert Johnson has been given a new look for 2026 by British graphic designer Stephen Smith, AKA Neasden Control Centre.

Smith was tasked with building on the “legendary status” of the Offenbach club to create a wall-to-wall mural using acrylic paint and oil stick, Resident Advisor reports.

The redesign was revealed by the Robert Johnson team on Instagram in January, who said that the club's walls would temporarily “appear in pure white, a blank surface”, as it was set to undergo development into a “beautiful piece of art”.

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The club tapped Stephen Smith to give RJ a “new look” inspired by his bold, colourful work, which would be “framed and developed” by fellow designer and electronic artist Dominik Keller.

Speaking to Mixmag, Smith explained that the vision began with the legacy of the club itself, “then it was all about the feeling I wanted to create for people when they are dancing with it.”

“The mural starts bold at the entrance and gives you a flavour of what's to come,” he says. “Inside the main room you are instantly wrapped in an all-over mainly black and white mural that uses pops of red, blue and yellow to fit with the lighting scheme.”

Elsewhere, a “druid figure” stands above the doorway holding a love heart, while a hand-painted bird sits on the staircase to symbolise “freedom and letting go”, and the word ‘love’ is hidden on a wall to the right.

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“I used massive painted forms beyond human scale and mixed collaged elements around the main room inspired by mixing and track selection,” he says. “The dots on the side are a nod to the side of a technics deck.”

Smith spent a week at the venue painting the mural, which was unveiled during an event with Gerd Janson in late February and shared on Instagram earlier today by Robert Johnson.

Smith will continue working with the club this year by designing flyers alongside Dominik Keller. Check out his work throughout RJ’s Instagram page, and see some photos of the mural below.

Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Associate Digital Editor, follow her on X