The LEED List No. 04 - Hotel Marcel

A Monument Reclaimed

The design at Hotel Marcel is not performative. It endures with quiet certainty. Conceived by architect Bruce Redman Becker of Becker and Becker, this all-electric, LEED Platinum-certified and Passive House-compliant hotel is housed in one of New Haven’s most formidable architectural relics. Formerly the Pirelli Tire Building, designed in 1967 by Bauhaus-trained architect Marcel Breuer, it once stood as a monument to industry. For decades, it sat dormant, a Brutalist landmark reduced, for a time, to a billboard for IKEA’s adjacent superstore—its facade wrapped in branding rather than intention.

Now, seated in the sunlit calm of Hotel Marcel’s restaurant, it’s hard not to pause. Not just because the tea is perfectly steeped or the latte steamed on solar power. But because everything around you speaks softly. The light. The materials. The geometry. Each one seems to ask for your attention in its own quiet way.

The Architect's Intention

Becker’s relationship with the building is deeply personal. Raised in New Canaan, Connecticut, a town rich in postwar Modernist architecture, he grew up surrounded by the work of Breuer, Johnson, and Noyes. His parents were both designers, his mother in furniture and his father in industrial objects. When the building fell into neglect, it felt less like a loss of property and more like the erasure of a design legacy. In 2019, Bruce and his wife Kraemer purchased the building from IKEA for $1.2 million, initiating one of the most ambitious adaptive reuse projects in contemporary hospitality. In 2020, after more than a year of study and planning, Becker acquired the site with a vision not just for preservation, but for transformation.

“There are two big ideas embedded in the design of Hotel Marcel,” Becker explains. “The first is to celebrate the building through the spirit of every detail of its creative reinvention as a boutique hotel. The second is to recycle the building, and many of its interior components, in a way that can serve as a model for sustainable hotel development.”

A System, Not a Statement

Hotel Marcel is not a gesture. It is a system. The first hotel in the United States to unite LEED Platinum certification with Passive House and Net Zero performance standards, it lives within the lineage of adaptive reuse. Its Brutalist frame, all rigid geometries and cast-in-place voids, contains 165 guest rooms, including suites situated in the original executive wing. A signature restaurant, richly composed public areas, and flexible event spaces complete the ensemble. Every corner has been considered, every volume measured not only for function, but for grace.

The hotel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and underwent a certified historic rehabilitation approved by the National Park Service and SHPO. It also meets the standards required for inclusion in Hilton’s Tapestry Collection. These layers of preservation and branding reinforce that sustainability and historicism are not mutually exclusive—they can be beautifully aligned.

I had the extraordinary privilege of touring Hotel Marcel alongside architect Bruce Becker and General Manager Ben Webster. To move through the space with the very individuals who brought it to life was to witness a rare synergy. Design and operation spoke in unison. Passion became visible.

Interior Design as Narrative

Becker and Becker have long championed sustainability as not only a responsibility, but a creative framework. As Becker himself put it, “We also recycled a whole building, the single most important thing we did environmentally.” The two-story void that cuts through the center remains untouched, framing the city like a canvas. Board-formed concrete, terrazzo stair treads, and mahogany handrails, materials that carry the weight of memory, are preserved with restraint and care.

That same reverence extends into the interior, where Dutch East Design took the reins with remarkable grace. The Brooklyn-based studio, led by partners Larah Moravek, William Oberlin, and Dieter Cartwright, brought warmth and narrative to the Brutalist shell. Dutch East Design, known for their emotionally expressive interiors, approached the building with reverence, not nostalgia. Their design introduces tactile contrast through handmade terracotta tiles, Anni Albers fabrics, warm woods, and soft drapery. “We didn’t want to create a museum to Breuer,” Cartwright said, “but write a new chapter.”

The firm was tasked with preserving original elements such as the concealed spline acoustic tile ceiling and the executive floor’s layout and wood paneling. These features were transformed through artful detail. Custom lighting with prismatic lenses, faceted wood panels, and nine redesigned executive suites preserve the midcentury spirit while offering a contemporary hospitality experience.

Form, Function, and Feel

Each guest room follows Breuer’s original five-foot modular grid. Most rooms are fifteen feet wide instead of the typical twelve, dictated by the rhythm of the existing window placements. The rectangular symmetry of the precast façade reappears throughout the interiors. It shows up in the thin borders of lighting fixtures, the vinyl headboards, and the metal frames of bathroom mirrors and sinks.

Dutch East Design custom-crafted furniture throughout the hotel. Modular storage systems, sculptural nightstands, and walnut-framed beds soften the interiors without erasing the structure’s geometric clarity. The Cesca chairs, upholstered in Anni Albers fabric, are not mere style nods. They are future heirlooms, selected with both endurance and narrative in mind. Artwork by Cory Emma Siegler adds further texture, echoing the Bauhaus sensibility that defines the space.

Stickley fabricated custom wooden casements offsite, installed with precision to match the building’s new triple-glazed windows. Natural woods, hand-glazed tile, and sustainably harvested hardwoods ground the interiors with emotional resonance. No off-gassing paints or synthetic finishes. No visual noise. Just considered materials chosen to last, both physically and spiritually.

Performance Behind the Quiet

Public areas carry the same restraint and refinement. The sunken lounge is a nod to Breuer. The restaurant and bar flow into over 9,000 square feet of event space, used for everything from weddings to sustainability summits. A palette of travertine, oak, and terracotta lightens the interiors and invites warmth. Lighting is quietly theatrical. Seating invites conversation. The atmosphere is composed, not contrived.

This sense of poise extends into the infrastructure. Hotel Marcel is the first hotel in the United States to use a Power over Ethernet system for lighting, window treatments, and guest room mini-fridges. The system reduces energy consumption by over thirty percent. It also allows for nuanced control and seamless integration.

The hotel’s “Decarb Toolkit” outlines a comprehensive set of strategies to eliminate CO2 emissions and enhance long-term efficiency. Fuel switching replaced gas and oil with heat pumps and induction cooking. A solar microgrid supports peak energy use and storage. Laundry machines are electric. Emergency backup comes from batteries, not generators. A fully electric shuttle replaces combustion-based transport. Each move reduces carbon while improving resilience.

A Certified Model for Now

Passive House is one of the most rigorous sustainability standards in the world. Overseen by the Passive House Institute, the certification requires buildings to meet stringent requirements related to insulation, airtightness, and thermal performance. While LEED evaluates across a broad environmental spectrum, Passive House focuses on energy use intensity and building envelope performance. Hotel Marcel meets these demands through deep insulation, air-source VRF heat pumps, and triple-glazed windows fitted precisely into Breuer’s original openings. It is among a select group of buildings in North America to meet these international standards, and is currently listed among the Passive House Institute's certified projects.

According to the Urban Green Council, the average site energy use intensity for hotels in New York is 107.4 kBTU per square foot. Hotel Marcel operates at 43.9 — a number that doesn’t just beat the average, but redefines it.

Energy systems are comprehensive. More than one thousand solar panels span the roof and parking canopy, generating over 575,000 kilowatt-hours annually. A 1.5 megawatt-hour battery stores the power for uninterrupted service. A grid-forming inverter synchronizes solar, storage, and utility flow, enabling the hotel to function as a microgrid. This is not just sustainable. It is resilient.

Operationally, the elegance continues. Induction-only kitchens eliminate fossil fuel dependence. In-house laundry reduces transport emissions and water use. Elevators regenerate power. Single-use plastics have been eliminated. Linens are refreshed only upon request. Banquets avoid disposables and compost all food waste.

Hospitality for the Planet

The restaurant, BLDG, serves locally sourced seasonal fare. Even the steamed milk in your morning latte is powered by sunlight. Electric vehicle charging is offered through twelve Tesla superchargers, two universal EV stations, and a dedicated fourteen-person electric shuttle. Every element, from culinary systems to transportation, reflects what the team calls “hospitality for the planet.”

From the parquet panels lining the elevators to the light fixtures repurposed in the ceiling tiles, nearly every detail of the building has been thoughtfully reused or refined. The goal was not to strip the building of its past, but to let it breathe anew.

Accessibility is integrated throughout. All guest rooms exceed ADA thresholds. Bathrooms feature roll-in showers, lowered counters, and intuitive circulation. Nothing feels added on. Everything belongs.

A Blueprint for Timeless Design

Hotel Marcel is not a showroom. It is not a thesis. It is a hotel. And yet, in its totality, it feels like a blueprint. Quietly radical in its completeness. Every decision, from the walnut bed frames to the lighting controls, has been considered through a lens of longevity, efficiency, and emotional clarity.

This is not the future. This is now. Passive House, long standard across Europe, is still rare in North America. Hotel Marcel proves its potential through restraint, not spectacle. It does not look like a laboratory. It feels like arrival. A place to rest. A place to exhale. A place where good design reveals itself not in excess, but in ease.

You feel it in the weight of the door handles. In the echo of terrazzo underfoot. In the hush of light filtered through sheer linen.

Hotel Marcel is not a reinvention of Brutalism. It is a restoration of purpose. It reminds us that timelessness is not found in trends, but in the grace of things done well.

Quietly, but without question, it is extraordinary.

Always, In the Details.

All images courtesy of Hotel Marcel, Becker + Becker, and Dutch East Design. Sourced via official websites and press kits. Used here for educational and editorial purposes.

Hotel Marcel - 500 Sargent Drive, New Haven, CT 06511 - hotelmarcel.com/

Dutch East Design Inc. - 231 W 29th Street, New York, NY 10001 - dutcheastdesign.com/

Becker + Becker - 21 Bridge Square, Suite 360, Westport CT 06880 - beckerandbecker.com/

The LEED List No. 02 – Crosby Street Hotel

I spent this week at the Crosby Street Hotel in SoHo, nestled on a quiet cobblestone block that renders even a cloudy afternoon beautifully composed. I’ve walked past it countless times, but this was the first occasion I allowed myself to truly study it. Not simply as a guest, but as a student of design. I arrived for afternoon tea, a visual and sensory delight in itself, and stayed far longer than anticipated, observing how the space moved, breathed, and held its guests.

Crosby Street Hotel is situated on a quiet cobbled street in the heart of New York’s vibrant SoHo neighborhood. It is the first hotel outside of London by renowned British hotelier Firmdale Hotels and marks a bold but graceful debut in the United States. Built from the ground up, the hotel rises eleven stories and spans 85,000 square feet. There are 86 bedrooms and suites, each generously proportioned and thoughtfully composed. The building includes a guest library, several meeting and event spaces, a private leafy garden, a fully equipped gym, and a 99-seat screening room. The Crosby Bar, elegant and unassuming, opens onto a sunlit restaurant and serves as a natural extension of the hotel’s rhythm.

The interiors are the work of Kit Kemp, co-owner and creative director of Firmdale Hotels. Known for her fresh and expressive style, Kemp’s design at Crosby is neither restrained nor overly stylized. It is confident, layered, and joyous. Velvet upholstery, sculptural lighting, patterned wallpapers, and curated art lend the hotel a spirit that is both playful and composed. Color pairings are unexpected but harmonious. Textures are soft and deliberate. The atmosphere is quietly theatrical without ever tipping into excess.

“The hotel has settled into its space like someone settling into a very comfortable armchair and in that way it looks like the art is a part of the place, rather than a gallery or somewhere where you stand, walk around and go out. It's actually a home, and it's a home from home, and that's how the art should look within a hotel.” — Kit Kemp, Every Room Tells a Story: Art at Crosby Street Hotel

Crosby Street Hotel is also the first hotel in New York State to earn LEED Gold certification. This distinction places it among a small group of buildings that demonstrate a comprehensive and sophisticated approach to environmental performance. Gold certification reflects the achievement of over sixty percent of the available LEED points, which recognizes thoughtful innovation in energy efficiency, water conservation, indoor air quality, and materials stewardship. These buildings model a design ethic that is as responsible as it is beautiful.

What is remarkable at Crosby is how lightly this responsibility is carried. There are no markers or didactic gestures. Instead, the sustainability is woven into the fabric of the experience. Over seventy-five percent of construction and demolition waste was diverted from landfills. Low-VOC paints and regional materials were used throughout. A green roof mitigates runoff and supports biodiversity. Rainwater capture and operable windows reduce energy loads and reinforce a sense of openness that is rare in Manhattan. Natural ventilation is not an amenity. It is a design principle.

The garden behind the hotel is one of its most graceful offerings. Sculpted but never stiff, it feels like an inherited space rather than an imposed one. Guests move through it slowly, almost instinctively, as though it were recalibrating their sense of pace. According to the USGBC, this connection to outdoor space, along with the hotel’s water-efficient landscape strategy, played a meaningful role in its certification. But none of that is the point. What matters is the stillness it creates.

Inside, the lighting is warm and painterly. Pools of light are placed with intent, framing moments without demanding attention. Materials speak in texture. Velvet, terracotta, stone, and hand-thrown ceramic all find their place. None of it feels incidental. Every finish contributes to a tactile narrative. Whether regional, recycled, or simply enduring, each detail feels both refined and necessary.

Crosby Street Hotel also holds three Michelin Keys, the highest rating awarded in the Michelin Guide’s inaugural list of outstanding hotels in the United States. This recognition reflects not only its quality of service but the fullness of the guest experience. Here, sustainability does not interrupt luxury. It defines it.

This visit reframed my understanding of what sustainable hospitality can look like. Not as a checklist or a set of certifications, but as a kind of elegance. A rhythm. A clarity of thought and feeling. Where 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge feels rooted and elemental, Crosby is expressive, urbane, and luminously calm. Both succeed by making sustainability structural, not supplemental.

Sometimes the most responsible buildings are the quietest. They do not need to persuade you. They let you feel it. In the hush of a library. In a garden that softens your shoulders. In the grace of a window that opens.

Always, In the Details.

All images courtesy of Crosby Street Hotel and Firmdale Hotels. Sourced via official websites and press materials. Used here for educational and editorial purposes.

Crosby Street Hotel -79 Crosby St, New York, NY 10012 - firmdalehotels.com/hotels/new-york/crosby-street-hotel/

Kit Kemp Design Studio - Ham Yard Village, 3 Ham Yard, London, UK W1D 7DT - kitkemp.com/

Stonehill Taylor - 31 W 27th St 5th floor, New York, NY 10001 - stonehilltaylor.com/

The LEED List No. 01 - 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge

I have been to 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge more times than I can count. Often for a cocktail on the rooftop, sometimes just to curl up in the lobby with a tea and pretend, for a moment, that I live there. But this visit was different. I arrived with a sketchbook, an assignment, and a new kind of lens. I was not there simply to enjoy the space. I was there to understand it.

I have long admired the aesthetic. Moody, grounded, and textural. But this visit invited me to look closer. I began paying attention not just to how the space made me feel, but how it performed. How it lived up to its reputation as one of the most sustainability-forward hotels in New York. Overlooking the East River and the Manhattan skyline, the hotel holds a LEED Gold certification and serves as a benchmark for sustainable urban hospitality. From the filtered light to the scent of reclaimed wood, every detail felt intentional yet effortless. Rooted, but never rigid.

Designed by INC Architecture & Design with interiors by local firm Roman and Williams, and landscaping by Harrison Green, 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge is a study in thoughtful restraint. The architecture is intuitive, grounding the structure in biophilic principles and material honesty. It invites calm without compromising complexity. Nothing is imposed. Everything emerges.

Opened in 2017, the hotel is situated at the edge of Brooklyn Heights, where brownstone quiet meets the industrial legacy of Dumbo and the cinematic sweep of the East River. It stands at the seam between past and present, nestled in one of the city's most historically significant neighborhoods. Brooklyn Heights was the first designated historic district in New York City, its cobbled streets and Federal-style townhouses long a haven for writers, thinkers, and quiet revolutionaries. Against this backdrop, 1 Hotel feels at once new and inevitable.

The hotel is part of the 1 Hotels portfolio, a brand founded on the principle that sustainability can be both luxurious and essential. Every element, from operations to aesthetics, is built to reflect a deeply integrated environmental ethos.

There is a cohesion to the design that feels more like an ecosystem than an interior. Reclaimed materials, more than fifty thousand integrated plants, cross-ventilation, rainwater and greywater reuse systems, and green roofs all work together in quiet harmony. More than half of the hotel’s structure and finishes are made from reclaimed and regionally sourced materials. This reduces embodied carbon and creates a tactile link to place. It is rare for a new build to feel this much of the city, not just in it.

The lobby sets the tone with its layered textures, dappled light, and a soft interplay between indoors and out. Public spaces open onto terraces with water views. Foot traffic flows naturally, like the movement of the river beyond. Timber beams and exposed joinery speak to craftsmanship and reuse. Concrete and floor-to-ceiling glass bring a refined counterbalance. Even the HVAC system, equipped with MERV-13 filtration, low-VOC materials, and daylighting integration, feels architectural, not mechanical.

Lunch at The Osprey was light and seasonal. Exactly in rhythm with the ethos of the space. The manager, upon hearing about my study, generously shared insights into the hotel’s sustainable systems and materials. That conversation added dimension to my research. It turned facts into something felt.

The guest rooms are compact and calming. Designed with reclaimed wood, organic cotton, filtered water, and smart sensors that adjust lighting and temperature when unoccupied, they are composed with care. Even the windows open into a balcony-like gesture. They let in breeze from the East River. The luxury here is not in spectacle. It is in subtlety. In the absence of plastic. In the presence of fresh air.

Many of the furnishings and fixtures are crafted by local artisans, grounding the interiors with an authenticity that mirrors the surrounding neighborhood. Natural materials, hand-finished elements, and regionally sourced pieces offer a connection to place that feels both deliberate and quietly personal.

Naturally, I returned to the rooftop. It has long been one of my favorite spots in Brooklyn, but this time I noticed more than just the view. Greenery softens every edge. It draws you outward, toward the river, toward the skyline. It does not just frame the city. It participates in it. Cocktail in hand, skyline ahead, I found myself thinking. This is biophilic design at its most intuitive. It makes you feel held.

The spa continues that story. Every gesture, from its quiet palette to its minimal acoustics, whispers calm. Nothing is performative. Everything is considered. Even the service reflects that balance. Gentle, attentive, human.

What impressed me most was the way materiality and light worked together to create a restorative environment. The sustainable systems—triple-filtered water, smart room technology, efficient lighting, hyper-local food sourcing—do not compete for attention. They are embedded. They are integral. You do not need to be told the building is sustainable. You sense it.

LEED Gold certification represents a distinguished level of performance under the U.S. Green Building Council’s framework. To achieve it, projects must secure over sixty percent of all available points across diverse categories, including energy use, water efficiency, indoor environmental quality, and sustainable site development. It is not simply an award. It is a signal that the building performs as beautifully as it looks. That the ethos is consistent from structure to service.

The design team approached the space less as a hotel and more as a living system. One that evolves with its guests, its climate, and its context. Sustainability here is not a checklist. It is a cadence. A confidence. A care.

You notice it in the way morning light settles into the grain of the reclaimed wood. In the hush between footsteps. In the warmth of filtered water poured into a ceramic cup. In the distant hum of the ferry. In the rustle of leaves on the promenade. In the city—just beyond—held at a softer volume.

This experience was built on research, observation, and one quiet conversation. But more than anything, it was about taking time. Slowing down to notice how design shapes feeling. This hotel does not just meet LEED standards. It embodies them. And that is the distinction.

Always, In the Details.

1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge - 60 Furman St, Brooklyn, NY 11201 - 1hotels.com/brooklyn-bridge

INC Architecture & Design -150 Varick St, 5th Floor South New York, NY 10013 - inc.nyc/

Harrison Green - 60 Grattan St, Brooklyn, NY 11237 - harrisongreen.com/