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Hyatt, London City East Hotel
Morson Praxis were commissioned to help Hyatt go big with green credentials at their new East London hotel. The hotel features 280 guest rooms, including upper floor rooms with private terraces with stunning views overlooking the city and towards Canary Wharf & The O2.
Client Brief
Going big with green credentials
Norstead commissioned Morson Praxis to provide Mechanical and Electrical (M&E) design consultancy for Hyatt’s new eco-conscious hotel in East London. The brief focused on delivering sustainable, digitally integrated M&E systems aligned with BREEAM ‘Excellent’ standards. Morson Praxis was tasked with developing energy-efficient solutions that enhanced both environmental performance and guest comfort while ensuring cost-effectiveness and long-term value.
Digital tools and advanced modelling techniques played a key role in streamlining design coordination and project delivery. Morson Praxis’s approach supported Norstead’s vision for a high-performance, future-ready hotel that aligned with Hyatt’s global sustainability goals and London’s urban development standards.
The collaboration ensured M&E systems were fully integrated with the building’s design, meeting modern expectations for both energy efficiency and user experience. Through this brief, Norstead demonstrated its commitment to environmentally responsible development, with Morson Praxis serving as a strategic partner in bringing a forward-thinking, green hospitality concept to life in the heart of East London.
Project Overview
280 impressive guest rooms
Hyatt Place London City East is a stylish, sustainability-led hotel located at Black Lion House on Whitechapel Road in Aldgate, near London’s financial district. The hotel includes 280 guest rooms, with upper-floor rooms offering private terraces and impressive views of Canary Wharf, The O2, and the wider city skyline.
Designed with a strong focus on environmental performance, the hotel aims for BREEAM ‘Excellent’ certification. Key amenities include a ninth-floor lounge and terrace, flexible meeting spaces, a vibrant lobby, an inner courtyard, a gym, and a grab-and-go food market, all tailored to modern travellers.
The project was a collaborative effort, with Morson Praxis providing M&E design consultancy services. Their contribution helped integrate energy-efficient systems and sustainable technologies into the hotel’s infrastructure, supporting operational efficiency and environmental goals. This project sets a new benchmark for eco-conscious hospitality in East London, combining comfort, innovation, and responsible design.
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From concept to completion, a truly multi-disciplinary solution.
Our Solution
BREEAM 'Excellent'
Morson Praxis assisted our client and many other stakeholders involved in the project with achieving the target of receiving BREEAM ‘Excellent’ by creating an efficient building which includes the use of water saving, energy saving, and power re-generating technologies, to name but a few.
Delivering best value for our client, our experts utilised our Building Information Modelling (BIM) expertise and ensuring a deep understanding of the hotel operator’s long-term operational requirements for their assets.
Adding Value
A robust energy strategy
The design proposal for Hyatt Place at Black Lion House was supported by a robust energy strategy which demonstrates a firm commitment to the London Plan and London Borough of Tower Hamlets policies whilst refurbishing existing building stock and contributing to lowering the borough’s carbon emissions from existing buildings.
The energy strategy has followed the energy hierarchy and has set out the CO2 emissions savings for both new build extension and refurbished floors and ultimately achieved significant whole site CO2 reductions at each stage of the energy hierarchy: Be lean, be clean be green.
Results
Prioritising demand reduction measures
The development targeted demand reduction measures, giving priority to the optimisation of the building fabric in order to reduce the need for both heating and cooling. The design was focused on achieving a low-energy building rather than relying on carbon offsetting technologies, committing to the priorities set in the London Plan, Tower Hamlets Managing Development Document and Local Plan Core Strategy.
Other demand reduction measures include the specification of highly efficient lighting systems and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery.
Due to the high demand for hot water related to hotel use, the implementation of two micro Combined Heat and Power (CHP) units working with a thermal store has been maximised for this development. The rest of the hot water and LTHW demand is supported by an ultra-low NOx gas modular boiler.
The renewable obligation has been met by air handling units using the highly efficient HVRF heat pump technology. Likewise, each bedroom is air conditioned with HVRF technology in order to deliver optimum comfort and efficiency using an innovative combination of unique 2-pipe refrigeration and water. This system provides a complete modern comfort cooling / heating solution for this 21st century hotel.
Commitment to reducing CO2
47.5% sitewide reduction
This hotel development demonstrates a major commitment to reducing CO2 emissions, whilst deploying contemporary technology which is efficient as well as having a renewable contribution.
This approximately results in an overall 47.5% site-wide reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. Following this strategy, the development achieves the necessary energy credits required to achieve a BREEAM Excellent environmental accreditation.
