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Hotel Marcel
The Hotel Marcel (formerly the Armstrong Rubber Company Building or the Pirelli Tire Building) is located in the Long Wharf district of New Haven, Connecticut, United States. The nine-story building was designed by modernist architect Marcel Breuer in the Brutalist style and originally functioned as an office headquarters for the Armstrong Rubber Company. Since 2022, it has operated as a Hilton hotel with 165 rooms. Over the years, the building has received extensive commentary from architecture critics, particularly for its massing or shape. The building is listed on the Connecticut Register of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places.
The Hotel Marcel's massing is composed of a two-story base, originally used for research and development, and a five-story upper section, originally used as offices. The two sections are separated by a two-story air gap with three massive piers. The facade is made of Mo-Sai concrete, with recessed windows and an entrance to the east. The base originally contained warehouses and research laboratories extending further west, although most of the base was demolished in 2003. The structural system is made of steel and concrete, with the upper floors suspended from a series of trusses. Inside, there is a ground-floor lobby and lounge, with hotel rooms above and an event space on the top floor. The modern hotel is a zero-energy building, relying on solar panels. The building's site includes a freestanding concrete sign to the northeast.
The Armstrong Rubber Company acquired the site in 1966 and developed its headquarters there from 1968 to 1970. Pirelli acquired Armstrong Rubber in 1988 and moved out of the building in May 1999. For the next two decades, the building was predominantly vacant, being used only for occasional events such as art exhibitions. Following an unsuccessful attempt in 1999 to build a mall on the site, the building was sold to Westfield Group and then to IKEA, which demolished part of the base. The architect and developer Bruce Redman Becker bought the building in January 2020 and began converting it into a hotel that September. The hotel opened in May 2022.
The Hotel Marcel, originally known as the Armstrong Rubber Company Building and later as the Pirelli Tire Building, stands at 500 Sargent Drive in the Long Wharf area of New Haven, Connecticut, United States. It occupies a larger parcel bounded on the north by Sargent Drive, on the east by Sargent Drive and I-95, and on the west by Brewery Street. The site lies between the Northeast Corridor railroad tracks to the west and the Connecticut Turnpike—part of Interstate 95—and New Haven Harbor to the east. The land had been marshland until 1949, when it was filled with material from the dredging of New Haven Harbor and, later, from construction of the Connecticut Turnpike. The building was originally set within a lawn, which was replaced by parking in the 2000s. The ground-level parking lot contains approximately 130 spaces. It also includes a carport fitted with solar panels, as well as electric-vehicle charging stations.
The hotel adjoins an IKEA store, which stands directly south of the building. Farther south is a former Howard Johnson's hotel designed in a similar style. That building, completed in 1971, had become a La Quinta Inn by the 2010s. A writer for the New Haven Register described the Howard Johnson building as "a pale paean" to the Armstrong Rubber building. The surrounding area also includes parking lots and industrial buildings. Nearby landmarks include the Long Wharf Theatre and the Northeast Corridor's New Haven Union Station. The hotel provides an electric shuttle van service to and from Union Station for guests without cars.
At the northeastern corner of the site is a freestanding concrete sign measuring 48 feet (15 m) high and 36 feet (11 m) wide. Built at the same time as the main structure in 1968–1969, the sign is a contributing feature in the site's National Register of Historic Places listing. The building's principal architect, Marcel Breuer, designed the sign after rejecting an earlier proposal to place signage above the roof. The sign consists of a central pedestal supporting a rectangular frame made up of two narrow vertical piers flanking an open void. Above the frame is a concrete mass with square openings on its sides. The frame originally displayed the Armstrong Rubber name, and later owners altered it to show their own branding. The pedestal contains a small east-facing door and a west-facing window, providing access to storage space inside. The door was added to circumvent local height restrictions on signs; because of this feature, the city zoning code classified the structure as a building rather than a sign, exempting it from those limits. The sign has been compared to a carillon that Breuer designed for the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University in Minnesota.
The Hotel Marcel was designed by modernist architects Marcel Breuer and Robert F. Gatje in the Brutalist style. Paul Weidlinger and his associate Matthys Levy were the structural engineers. Originally an office building, the Hotel Marcel structure was converted into a hotel from 2020 to 2022.
The Hotel Marcel's massing is composed of two sections: a two-story base and a five-story upper section. These sections are separated by a gap (also described as a negative space) measuring 17 feet (5.2 m) high; including the gap, the building is nine stories high. The gap was originally intended to reduce noise from the research, development, and production laboratories below, allowing the administrative offices in the upper section to be quieter, The gap also visually separated the differing functions of each section, and it provided space for two additional floors if future demand necessitated them. The configuration of the massing was comparable to other mid-century modern buildings suspended above the ground level. Large piers at the building's north end, center, and south end connect the lower and upper stories; these piers contain the utilities, elevators, and stairs. The upper stories are topped by a flat roof.
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Hotel Marcel
The Hotel Marcel (formerly the Armstrong Rubber Company Building or the Pirelli Tire Building) is located in the Long Wharf district of New Haven, Connecticut, United States. The nine-story building was designed by modernist architect Marcel Breuer in the Brutalist style and originally functioned as an office headquarters for the Armstrong Rubber Company. Since 2022, it has operated as a Hilton hotel with 165 rooms. Over the years, the building has received extensive commentary from architecture critics, particularly for its massing or shape. The building is listed on the Connecticut Register of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places.
The Hotel Marcel's massing is composed of a two-story base, originally used for research and development, and a five-story upper section, originally used as offices. The two sections are separated by a two-story air gap with three massive piers. The facade is made of Mo-Sai concrete, with recessed windows and an entrance to the east. The base originally contained warehouses and research laboratories extending further west, although most of the base was demolished in 2003. The structural system is made of steel and concrete, with the upper floors suspended from a series of trusses. Inside, there is a ground-floor lobby and lounge, with hotel rooms above and an event space on the top floor. The modern hotel is a zero-energy building, relying on solar panels. The building's site includes a freestanding concrete sign to the northeast.
The Armstrong Rubber Company acquired the site in 1966 and developed its headquarters there from 1968 to 1970. Pirelli acquired Armstrong Rubber in 1988 and moved out of the building in May 1999. For the next two decades, the building was predominantly vacant, being used only for occasional events such as art exhibitions. Following an unsuccessful attempt in 1999 to build a mall on the site, the building was sold to Westfield Group and then to IKEA, which demolished part of the base. The architect and developer Bruce Redman Becker bought the building in January 2020 and began converting it into a hotel that September. The hotel opened in May 2022.
The Hotel Marcel, originally known as the Armstrong Rubber Company Building and later as the Pirelli Tire Building, stands at 500 Sargent Drive in the Long Wharf area of New Haven, Connecticut, United States. It occupies a larger parcel bounded on the north by Sargent Drive, on the east by Sargent Drive and I-95, and on the west by Brewery Street. The site lies between the Northeast Corridor railroad tracks to the west and the Connecticut Turnpike—part of Interstate 95—and New Haven Harbor to the east. The land had been marshland until 1949, when it was filled with material from the dredging of New Haven Harbor and, later, from construction of the Connecticut Turnpike. The building was originally set within a lawn, which was replaced by parking in the 2000s. The ground-level parking lot contains approximately 130 spaces. It also includes a carport fitted with solar panels, as well as electric-vehicle charging stations.
The hotel adjoins an IKEA store, which stands directly south of the building. Farther south is a former Howard Johnson's hotel designed in a similar style. That building, completed in 1971, had become a La Quinta Inn by the 2010s. A writer for the New Haven Register described the Howard Johnson building as "a pale paean" to the Armstrong Rubber building. The surrounding area also includes parking lots and industrial buildings. Nearby landmarks include the Long Wharf Theatre and the Northeast Corridor's New Haven Union Station. The hotel provides an electric shuttle van service to and from Union Station for guests without cars.
At the northeastern corner of the site is a freestanding concrete sign measuring 48 feet (15 m) high and 36 feet (11 m) wide. Built at the same time as the main structure in 1968–1969, the sign is a contributing feature in the site's National Register of Historic Places listing. The building's principal architect, Marcel Breuer, designed the sign after rejecting an earlier proposal to place signage above the roof. The sign consists of a central pedestal supporting a rectangular frame made up of two narrow vertical piers flanking an open void. Above the frame is a concrete mass with square openings on its sides. The frame originally displayed the Armstrong Rubber name, and later owners altered it to show their own branding. The pedestal contains a small east-facing door and a west-facing window, providing access to storage space inside. The door was added to circumvent local height restrictions on signs; because of this feature, the city zoning code classified the structure as a building rather than a sign, exempting it from those limits. The sign has been compared to a carillon that Breuer designed for the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University in Minnesota.
The Hotel Marcel was designed by modernist architects Marcel Breuer and Robert F. Gatje in the Brutalist style. Paul Weidlinger and his associate Matthys Levy were the structural engineers. Originally an office building, the Hotel Marcel structure was converted into a hotel from 2020 to 2022.
The Hotel Marcel's massing is composed of two sections: a two-story base and a five-story upper section. These sections are separated by a gap (also described as a negative space) measuring 17 feet (5.2 m) high; including the gap, the building is nine stories high. The gap was originally intended to reduce noise from the research, development, and production laboratories below, allowing the administrative offices in the upper section to be quieter, The gap also visually separated the differing functions of each section, and it provided space for two additional floors if future demand necessitated them. The configuration of the massing was comparable to other mid-century modern buildings suspended above the ground level. Large piers at the building's north end, center, and south end connect the lower and upper stories; these piers contain the utilities, elevators, and stairs. The upper stories are topped by a flat roof.
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