Projects
Honors Hall, Lycoming College
Williamsport, PA
From Auto Parts Store to Restored 19th Century Landmark Building
This adaptive reuse project transformed a condemned building into a beautiful multi-use cultural resource. In addition to the main recital hall, the building also houses offices for the Honors Program, Campus Ministry and Community Services, a student lounge and a meditation chapel. Working entirely within the existing envelope, the refurbished building features extensive interior detailing and casework, with environmentally friendly cork flooring.
The 19th century landmark was originally built in 1884 as a meeting house for the growing city of Williamsport and most recently was being used as an auto parts store. Lycoming College originally purchased the property with the intention of making a parking lot. However, a financial gift to the college facilitated a new vision for the solid 19th century brick building.
Multi-Use Resource for the College and Surrounding Community
The dramatic transformation incorporates pieces of the college’s history including terra cotta medallions from a former campus art and music conservatory and a stained glass window rescued from another campus building. Flexible seating was utilized for the recital hall to accommodate a wide range of programming for up to 100 people on the first floor with an additional 20 seats in a balcony viewing area. The recital hall has become a vibrant, acoustically-friendly addition to the campus, well received by the Lycoming College music program and the surrounding community.
Photo Credit: Michael Mutmansky Photography
Presbyterian Homes, The Moorings
Arlington Heights, IL
Master planning for Presbyterian Homes involved evaluation of services and existing infrastructure at several campuses located in and around Chicago. The Moorings at Arlington Heights is the first campus for implementation.
Strategic planning for this campus focused on rightsizing the property by optimizing the ratios between the levels of care and product offerings. The result is a new assisted living residence, an assisted living memory care residence and a new chapel and commons spaces.
The proposed chapel building is positioned to take advantage of views to the pond, while creating an enclosed courtyard area accessible from the new assisted living memory care and existing skilled nursing buildings. Its position also makes the chapel readily accessible to all levels of care while improving circulation between them. Designed to properly support the worship and fellowship needs of the community, the chapel provides
a flexible environment that can support multipurpose events and group activities as well.
The replacement assisted living buildings respond to market expectations for gracious, supportive residences, including a specialized building for residents living with dementia. The four-story, 122,639 square foot assisted-living building is comprised of 70 apartments that are mostly one-bedroom spaces as well as a few two-bedroom residences to accommodate couples. The ground level is being used for covered parking, as well as generously sized employee spaces. The restaurant style dining room has lake views and incorporates a demonstration kitchen. The open display kitchen design integrates video cameras so that cooking demonstrations can be shared with the entire campus.
Plans for future phases encompass additional apartments and duplex cottages. The new housing will provide larger unit options for residents while helping the owner optimize the mix of product offerings.
Awards: Publication in Environments for Aging Design Showcase