Hospitality Design - October 2021 - 99

Warm tones and soft textures mark the public
areas of the Hotel Marcel, shown in a rendering
A rendering of Hotel Marcel's lobby, where guests
are greeted by a wood and travertine reception desk
The entrance of Primo restaurant in Orlando is inspired by a traditional
Italian courtyard with sweeping archways and hanging plants
Aged copper, limestone, and terracotta come
together in Primo for a handmade quality
How do you remain sensitive to the
brand, the project, or the building
when designing a space?
I come to a project fi rst as an observer, to
take in, refl ect on, and to collate all fi ndings
before sett ing forth a design narrative. I have a
very curious sensibility and that makes me a
thoughtful designer as I am always interested
in exploring the deeper layers of a problem.
We tend not to work with brands that require
universality, but instead require a direct
response to place in a meaningful way.
How is the Hotel Marcel a model for
sustainable hospitality?
The design not only calls for meeting the
stringent guidelines for historic preservation,
but also the high standards of sustainability
and performance. Breathing new life into
this iconic structure is a welcome challenge.
The hotel will generate 100 percent of its own
electricity, heat, and hot water with a rooſt op
solar array and solar parking canopies. No
fossil fuels will be used to power or heat the
building. The building will be all electric,
powered by renewable onsite energy, including
the kitchen and laundry (a fi rst in the U.S.).
There will be 12 onsite Tesla Superchargers
as well as level-two electric vehicle chargers
for overnight guests and a Tesla as the guest
courtesy car. The building's solar microgrid
will be equipped with a batt ery that will power
the hotel, feed power to the grid during peak
times, and maintain power to the building
during grid outages. For LEED and Passive
House certifi cation, we're using a highperformance
envelope with industry-leading
thermal insulation technology, energy recovery
ventilators, and high-effi ciency variant
refrigerant fl ow (VRF) air-source heat pumps
for HVAC and water heating.
What are the challenges when
designing a zero-net energy hotel?
The challenges to achieve this are many and
varied and require buy-in from everyone on
the project. Because many of the systems are
atypical, they're not industry standard, so
there's oſt en a steep learning curve. To launch
a truly sustainable building all systems need
to be integrated. This is very diffi cult with an
adaptive reuse project, especially when the
building is also a historic landmark.
How can owners help propel wellness
forward in the hospitality industry?
Hospitality is meant to off er comfort,
enjoyment, and companionship-even
if temporary. The community we are
designing for and designing within, we are
impacting their path forward and have an
opportunity to allow those guests to leave a
litt le more mindful than when they arrive.
A hospitality venue should strive to make
sure everyone leaves their establishment a
litt le bett er than when they came in. What
bett er means is subjective to the individual.
We do have a responsibility to create tangible
built environments where sustainability and
wellness are at the forefront of how we solve
for design. We are at a point where this is
necessary.
hospitalitydesign.com October 2021
099
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Hospitality Design - October 2021

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