Transforming Hospitality with Eco-Design: Insights from Morgan RÆ
From Coastal Problem to Design Opportunity: Rethinking Hospitality Materials with Morgan Ræ
In a recent conversation with Morgan Ræ for the Colectivo Podcast, we explored how eco-design and seaweed-based materials are reshaping the future of hospitality.
Morgan is the founder of L'Eautelier, a marine-based design studio focused on hospitality. Her work looks at how hotels can move beyond conventional materials and reimagine guest experiences through algae-based, bio-based and circular design solutions.
From compliance to creative constraint
One of the central themes of our conversation was the need to reframe regulation and sustainability pressure more broadly.
For many businesses, incoming sustainability requirements can feel like another administrative burden. The instinct is often defensive: comply, avoid risk and move on. But this mindset can limit innovation and lead to missed opportunities.
Instead, Morgan invited us to look at regulation and constraint as a creative prompt. In hospitality, where customer experience, brand identity and operational detail matter deeply, constraints can become a powerful driver for redesign.
As Laura McDermott reflected during the conversation:
"The tide has turned, and it's not just about creating amazing customer experiences to the detriment of the planet and our environmental and social impact. It's looking at an opportunity and a design challenge of creating very unique and very exciting customer experiences while within certain boundaries."
This is where eco-design becomes more than a sustainability add-on. It becomes a way of thinking about how materials, systems, products and experiences are designed from the beginning.
Why hospitality needs to rethink materials
Morgan's journey into marine-based design began after years of working in luxury hospitality around the world. She had seen how frequently hotels renovate and refresh their interiors, and she began to question whether the materials being used were suited to that reality.
As Morgan explained:
"After working in the luxury hospitality industry for a few decades, from five-star hospitality around the world, I left that to look into how hotels could change. How could they make a difference? And at the start of my journey, I actually discovered Sargassum in Tulum and didn't realise that it would be a main part of my body of work later on with L'Eautelier. But what we were looking at is hotels changing every five to ten years, they're renovating the interiors. We were using materials that weren't quite right for this type of lifespan."
This insight sits at the heart of L'Eautelier's work.
If hotel interiors are often changed every five to ten years, then the sector needs materials that are designed for that lifespan, and for what happens afterwards. Morgan's Seaweed Suites explore what it would look like to convert hotel rooms into algae-based environments, from mattresses, textiles and paints to finishes, bathroom products and minibar items.
The question is not only whether a material is sustainable in isolation. It is whether it fits the system it is being designed for.
Sargassum: from coastal challenge to material opportunity
One of the most striking examples Morgan discussed was Sargassum, a type of macroalgae that has become a significant challenge in coastal regions, especially across parts of the Caribbean.
When Sargassum washes ashore in large quantities, it can create unpleasant odours, disrupt tourism and create environmental management challenges for hotels and local communities. But Morgan also highlighted the opportunity to rethink this material stream.
Rather than allowing Sargassum to rot on beaches, it can be intercepted, processed and used in different applications. In Morgan's work, this connects to the use of algae-based materials in interiors, products, packaging and hospitality experiences.
This is a powerful example of circular thinking: looking at a material that is currently treated as a problem and asking whether it can become part of a better system.
Designing circular guest experiences
One of the most interesting parts of the conversation was the idea that circularity should not be hidden behind the scenes. It can be part of the guest experience itself.
If a hotel replaces single-use plastics with biomaterials, refillable systems or compostable packaging, the question is not only operational. It is experiential.
Morgan closed with a practical reminder that guests also have a role to play:
"There are some really cool solutions on the market right now that you could start introducing into your travels as you go forward, so you can take more responsibility beforehand."
This matters because hospitality is a shared system. Brands have responsibility for what they design and provide, but guests also participate in those systems through the choices they make, the expectations they bring and the behaviours they normalise.
The path forward
Morgan's work with L'Eautelier shows what becomes possible when we treat materials and environmental challenges as design prompts rather than problems to manage.
At Colectivo, we see the same opportunity through our work with organisations on sustainability strategy, behaviour change and innovation. The businesses that will be best prepared are not those that treat sustainability as a final checkbox, but those that integrate it into how they design, source, operate and improve.
Key takeaways
Eco-design can help hospitality brands move from compliance to innovation.
Seaweed and other biomaterials offer new possibilities for interiors, packaging and amenities.
Sargassum shows how a coastal challenge can become part of a circular material conversation.
Circularity should be designed into products, operations and guest experiences from the beginning.
Better sustainability can also mean better customer experience.
This is the first of two posts drawing on our Colectivo Podcast conversation with Morgan Ræ. The second looks at the EU regulatory shift hospitality brands cannot ignore, and how B Corp standards can help them prepare.
