Home Design – Natural Daylighting
By Chet Zebroski
Once the water intrusion, air infiltration, and insulation solutions were installed in our crawl space, we moved our attention onto interior improvements. With the desire of opening up circulation and providing natural light into a dark hall, we started by removing a door and related framing to allow additional daylight to enter the hall space from the Living Room.
We considered adding a skylight for natural day light, but the roof form over the hall where we’d like to place one is way too complicated. So, we came up with the idea of borrowing light from a bedroom window and feeding it through a large display niche into the hallway.
What happened is that while contemplating a solution for gaining natural light in the hallway, a friend/client and I bartered an exchange. I did some design work for him, and he did some glass blowing for me. His work actually inspired the concept of the niche in the hallway instead of a skylight because we needed a place to display his art.
It occurred to us that by using a niche as a light-source / display-space in the hallway, we could also expand the niche on the bedroom side and provide a built-in cabinet. ~and, avoid the hassle of putting in a skylight. We wanted to make improvement to the bedroom, too. So, it’s kind of a two-fer.
We love built-ins and the charm they bring to a home. So, game on!
By removing a door and related framing from a hall entry, and providing a source of light from an adjacent bedroom’s window via a large niche, we provide natural daylight into what was once a dark hallway. These pictures should be self explanatory…
