ELEVATED MOTEL

FALL 2018

Sited atop Paul Rudolph’s Temple Street Garage spanning two blocks in New Haven, Connecticut and sitting adjacent to a highway, this hotel is a relentless accommodation and celebration of the car, paying respect to the base on which it sits by continuing its function of “garage” upwards into the new growth of the hotel.

Yale University consumes the city of New Haven, encompassing a majority of its livelihood, activity, and economic lifeline. Although technically pedestrian-friendly, this feature of New Haven is offset by its safety concerns. Far from being considered a destination city, New Haven is instead host to guests randing from visiting professors coming in for a seminar, to family and friends of Yale students, to roadtrippers on a one-night stop.

The hotel draws upon nostalgic influences of the motel, a marriage of the parking and hotel programs. It shapes itself around the movement of the automobile, accommodating guests who value privacy, security, and closeness to their vehicle. Efficiency of circulation drives the form as it attempts to negotiate with thelong and narrow site.