Graduate Hotel Wins Historic Preservation Award
NHPT Awards Graduate Hotel New Haven 2020 Merit Plaque
We are excited to announce that the New Haven Preservation Trust (NHPT) recently awarded GKV Architect’s hospitality project Graduate Hotel New Haven with the 2020 NHPT Merit Plaque. The NHPT annually recognizes historic preservation projects in New Haven, Connecticut and this year selected projects expected to add financial value to the community. Read about the award at the New Haven Trust website.
“The 2020 New Haven Preservation Trust Awards highlight the reality that profitability in the cause of historic preservation is a win-win proposition,” said the New Haven Preservation Trust.
“Existing buildings in New Haven are not just a cultural resource, they have tangible financial value, and developers are discovering the economic sense of leveraging the extraordinary aesthetics and prime locations of New Haven's architecture.”
Graduate Hotel New Haven is a 72-room boutique hotel located at the edge of the bustling Yale University campus. GKV Architects worked with Graduate Hotel’s in-house design and development teams to revitalize the run-down building that dates back to 1894. Historically named the Hotel Duncan, it served as a single-sex boarding house for women attending Yale in the 1960s, with many rooms outfitted for single room occupancy. View this historic preservation project in our portfolio.
Historic Preservation in New Haven
In recent years the building’s interiors and structure had fallen into disrepair. As part of the restoration, GKV incorporated as many of the original ornaments, finishes, furnishings, artwork, and architecture as possible to preserve the building’s storied past and cultivate the spirit of the university.
On the exterior this involved repointing the rotting facade and replacing the leaking windows. Architectural elements including the rounded entrance canopy and the bright neon signage were repaired with their original patina, so as to re-introduce the hotel an old friend, not as a shiny new addition.
All of the finishes, ceilings, ornamental column covers, woodwork, windows, doors and frames and moldings are either original or new but carefully crafted to match the old.
In addition to renovating the exterior GKV overhauled the lobby, guestrooms and the local favorite Old Heidelberg bar, which has been a staple of the community since the 18th century. Among the historic pieces that were preserved are the wooden bar and tables — complete with alumni’s hand carved initials and messages.
A ground floor coffee bar, open to the public, inside the hotel lobby forms an additional gathering space for the community. View this historic New Haven hotel on our client’s website. Other notable historic details in the hotel include the oldest manually-operated elevator in Connecticut, two payphones original to the building and Yale memorabilia, such as pendants, books and photography that connect the new hotel to its past and community.