About Us
Lighthouse Architecture is a firm with a unique focus – our client. It’s not about us, it’s about what our clients are aspiring to achieve.
We approach design as a balance of functional efficiency, real estate economics, aesthetic vision and sustainability. It’s in this balance where true return on investment lies.
This is design that pays you back.
Krutee Shah IIA, LEED AP
With a keen understanding of client needs and extensive international architecture experience, Ms. Krutee N. Shah, LEED AP at Lighthouse Architecture, brings a custom-tailored approach to projects both large and small.
Originally from India, Shah ran an architecture firm with her husband for five years in Mumbai before moving to the U.S. Since starting work at Lighthouse Architecture in 2000, Shah has earned clients' respect while managing project design, staff, and office operations. Discovering a talent for marketing while gaining planning and design experience in both the public and private sectors, Shah is committed to developing strong relationships with clients who trust and respect her desire to custom-tailor each project to individual needs. Her experience includes work on educational buildings, office buildings, ADHC facilities and many hospitality projects.
Inspired as a child by the high-rise buildings of Mumbai, Shah seeks to create buildings that are functional and aesthetically pleasing, while serving as a marketing tool to promote her clients' business development. Shah specializes in hospitality architecture. She admires architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright and Santiago Calatrava, and is attracted to contemporary, sleek lines, yet strives to retain the essential fabric of a neighborhood when drafting a design concept. Shah challenges herself to incorporate innovative new designs into her work. She is a LEED-accredited professional and holds a five-year Bachelor's Degree in Architecture from the Academy of Architecture in Mumbai.
Shah is actively involved in the Asian-American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA).
Click here to find Krutee Shah on LinkedIn.
Peter Porretta AIA, LEED AP
Peter J. Porretta, principal architect of Lighthouse Architecture, brings a unique sensibility to architectural design. Growing up in the family construction business, he learned early to appreciate the full scope of talents needed to execute an architectural concept through the challenges of the construction process to completion.
This unique sensibility is founded in Porretta’s design philosophy which is rooted in the antiquities. The Roman architect Vitruvius, famously wrote that a building should have “firmness, commodity, and delight.” In other words, it should perform; provide a return on investment, and be a pleasure to view and occupy.
Porretta’s design and construction experience was broadened with a master’s degree in business administration and ownership in a real estate development company. He truly understands the business of design, construction and development, having designed, financed, built and sold real estate.
Porretta holds a Bachelor of Architecture Degree from Clemson University and a MBA from Rowan University. He is National Council of Architectural Rrgistration Boards (NCARB) certified Architect, a Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) Certified Construction Specifier (CCS), CSI Certified Construction Contract Administrator (CCCA) and a United States Green Building Council (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional (LEED AP).
Porretta is member of American Institute of Architects (AIA) and served as a volunteer professional for the AIA Philadelphia Community Design Collaborative. He is also a member of the Construction Specifications Institute and International Code Council (ICC) and actively involved in the Philadelphia District Council of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), Lambda Alpha International - the Honorary Society for the Advancement of Land Economics (LAI), and the Pennsylvania Restaurant Association (PRA).
Click here to find Pete Poretta on LinkedIn.