Light Path

This project was selected as a Honor winner in the 2021 Residential Architect Design Awards, New Approaches to Housing and Specialty Homes: Co-Living category.

"This house takes the notion of healthy living and accessibility and turns it into something beautiful in unexpected ways.” —Juror Matthew Bremer, AIA

In a profession—and culture—increasingly cognizant of the needs of the elderly and of individuals with disabilities, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson fosters with Light Path a familial atmosphere that prioritizes accessibility and occupant well-being. The single-story residence on a forested site not far from BCJ’s Wilkes-Barre office provides a retired couple a rural retreat that anticipates their changing needs, including a recent diagnosis of Alzheimer’s.

Balancing aesthetic daring and technical sophistication with a keen sense of place, the scheme is straightforward: A single volume, rectangular in plan, is topped by a gable with a light well running the length of the structure. This glazed spine covers a central hallway, off of which branch the primary rooms, including a large living and dining space (also glazed in) and a den that can be combined, via sliding glass doors, with an adjacent terrace to create an indoor–outdoor patio. A profusion of operable windows, flexible room arrangements, and a connection to the surrounding wilderness make the house a welcoming, alluring destination for the owners’ city-dwelling kin.

PROJECT CREDITS:
Project: Light Path, Waverly, Pa.
Client: Dorrance and Susan Belin
Architects: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Nicholas Snyder, AIA (project manager), Julia Chaffee, AIA (project architect), Peter Bohlin, FAIA (principal), Jim Bell, Theresa Thomas (project team)
Architect of Record: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
Structural Engineer: ED Pons & Associates
Mechanical Engineer: Martin Rogers Associates
General Contractor: Dakan Enterprises
Lighting Designer: Niteo
Size: 2,975 square feet
Cost: $1,900,000

Materials and Sources:
Appliances: KitchenAid
Carpet: Stanton Carpet - Wool Sisal
Ceilings: Locally sourced white pine
Wood Floor: River Re-claimed Heart Pine – Goodwin Company https://heartpine.com
Bluestone: Locally sourced, flamed finish
Recessed LED Fixtures: WAC Lighting https://www.waclightinglights.com
Surface mount adjustable LED fixtures (on skylight sidewalls): Litelab Jewelers
Collection (skylight wall mounted art lights). https://litelab.com
Entry wall Fixtures: TEKA Illumination - Light House Sconce (Entry
Walls) https://www.tekaillumination.com
Reading Lights: Koncept Lighting, Gravy Light https://www.koncept.com/gravywall
Exterior site lighting: BK Lighting https://bklighting.com
Flooring & Patio: Locally sourced Bluestone, Flamed Finish
Interior Paint: Benjamin Moore. https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us
Exterior Stain: Benjamin Moore ArborCoat Semi-Solid Black
Roofing: Pac-Clad Standing Seam Aluminum Panels, weathered zinc color
Autodesk Revit https://www.autodesk.com/products/revit/overview?term=1-YEAR&tab=subscription
Dynamic Fenestration https://dynamicfenestration.com
Door Handles – Reveal Designs https://www.reveal-designs.com
Window Shades – JGeiger Shading https://www.jgeigershading.com