I’m sitting in the sun-filled restaurant of Hotel Marcel in New Haven, Connecticut, marveling at what’s before me. Not the imposing Marcel Breuer-designed brutalist structure itself. Nor that the landmark building sat abandoned for over two decades and now feels fresh and modern. I’m marveling at my latte. Decorated with a perfect foam flourish, delivered at just the right temperature, it was brewed and steamed with electricity from the hotel’s own photovoltaic solar panels. The same is true of every linen that’s laundered, every remote-controlled shade that is lowered, and every warm bath that’s drawn. Hotel Marcel is the country’s first fossil fuel-free hotel.
The property, part of the Tapestry Collection by Hilton, was the brainchild of local architect and developer Bruce Becker. He grew up in New Canaan, Connecticut surrounded by modernist architecture and, like most of us, knows that the effects of climate change are well upon us. “My street fills up with water when there’s a full moon. You don’t need to be a scientist or any sort of expert to know we have to make radical changes,” he says. His firm Becker + Becker is focused on ensuring that their projects don’t negatively impact the environment.
At Hotel Marcel, they call it “hospitality for the planet.” Lighting is low-voltage LED technology. BLDG, the in-house restaurant, uses induction cooking for its clever menu featuring items like Haus egg sandwiches and cauliflower tacos. Guests can plug into 12 Tesla superchargers, or two universal EV charging stations, and there are a dozen more on the way. For those who don’t have a car, an electric 14-person shuttle is at their service. The building generates at least as much energy as it consumes. And then there’s the fact that the brutalist structure, built in 1969 as the headquarters and research labs for the Armstrong Rubber Company, was recycled to begin with.
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