Archinect - News

Cosmic set to produce prefabricated ADUs in California with water recycling and solar energy

2024-04-23T13:58:00-04:00

San Francisco-based Cosmic has raised $1.5 million in funding for their micro-home product designs aimed at bringing “self-sustainable homes in California and beyond.” The company’s leading product, Cosmic ONE, is described as a “limited-edition high-quality micro-home” that can serve as an ADU, a primary single-family home, or a component in a wider residential community.

Showroom model. Image courtesy: Cosmic

Cosmic ONE has been designed as an all-electric, prefabricated unit that can use recycled water for non-potable needs, as well as being equipped with a solar and battery system. The first 100 CosmicOne units will be available for sale in California.

Showroom model. Image courtesy: Cosmic

“Building a new home and expanding an existing one today can be very challenging due to the intricate permitting process, labor scarcity, and complexities of site infrastructure works,” the company says about their prop...

Airbnb co-founder's ADU company Samara begins production in Mexico factory

2024-03-07T12:35:00-05:00

California-based Samara has opened a factory in Mexicali, Mexico, to scale up manufacturing of their backyard ADU units. As we reported in late 2022, the startup is led by Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia alongside former Flex chief executive Mike McNamara.

Image credit: Samara

The 150,000-square-foot factory will host the construction of Samara’s modular units, including interior and exterior finishes. Following production in the factory, each unit will be loaded onto a truck for delivery to the customer’s property.

Image credit: Samara

The company’s first unit, Backyard, is being manufactured in studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom layouts, with a larger two-bedroom expected to launch soon. Samara notes that the unit can be installed in “as few as seven months,” including permitting, with 30 days of on-site labor. The unit is currently available for purchase in California.

Image credit: Samara

“Our homes are central to our lives,” said McNamara in a statement. “On average, most people in...

America's first 3D printed fire-resistant ADU concept is under construction in Southern California

2024-02-29T11:57:00-05:00

A new 3D printed ADU prototype made of concrete and other fire-resistant materials is under construction as part of a demonstration taking place this month in Walnut, California.

The first-of-its-kind project was born of a collaboration between the fire departments of both Walnut and Los Angeles. A local couple volunteered to give the host the design for general contractor Builtech Construction Group in the interests of applying lessons valuable for disaster prevention at a time when an influx of peri-urbanization has left the state more susceptible to fire-damaged structures than ever before.

Image courtesy RIC Technology

The unit is both non-combustible and fire-resistant and is being constructed using contractor RIC Technology’s robotic 3D printer.

Construction takes only 20 days from the start of the printing process to finish after the foundation has been laid. It yields a total of 1,200 square feet of space with 2 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms. The design works by eliminating any...

RISD students team up with AARP to demonstrate the potential of ADUs to lawmakers

2024-02-15T15:25:00-05:00

Students at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) recently collaborated with the state’s local AARP on a design-research project that was meant to demonstrate the potential of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) to lawmakers currently looking at alternatives to boost housing production and care for an aging population.

The project was spearheaded by RISD faculty member Elizabeth Debs as part of the Interior Architecture department’s annual design charette challenge this past November. She says: “We look for opportunities to use design as a way to explore pressing community needs with collaborators who are experts in their fields. By working with [the] AARP, students quickly learned important strategies for aging in place as well as universal design approaches they will use throughout their careers.”

Photo by Jaime Marland, image courtesy Rhode Island School of Design.

Teams were limited to a 900-square-foot footprint for their designs, which also included considerations for primary st...

Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies publishes research on the state-by-state effectiveness of ADU policies

2023-11-10T18:36:00-05:00

The publication of a new research paper from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University has provided policymakers with a useful nationwide assessment of different state-level policies regarding Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) in the United States.

The paper centers on two markets – New Hampshire and Portland, Oregon – as a means of comparing measured and more aggressive approaches (the latter having already been long-established as a national model).

Researchers were seeking to combat the “self-reinforcing negative cycle” that is born out of patchwork regulations and has made market conditions even more challenging to their production. The results offer proof, according to the authors, that “robust changes can have dramatic impacts.”

Related on Archinect: A possible future for ADUs and its growing 'familiarity factor'. Image courtesy of Abodu.

Comparisons of the failures of different approaches to by-right approvals in creating new housing in the New England states i...

ADU construction is now outpacing single-family developments in Seattle

2023-04-10T16:39:00-04:00

The simplest takeaway from Seattle’s new report is that ADU production is up. The city granted permits to 988 units last year, and more than 650 were built — not all projects are built during the year they get permitted — outpacing the construction of single houses for the first time

As the Seattle Times reports, a change in regulations in 2019 led to the ADU boom locally. The city will now permit up to two ADU developments per lot, leading to a better-than-predicted 1,336 units being constructed against a total of 554 single-family homes being razed over a two-year period ending in 2022.

Seattle is estimated to need an additional 55,000 units of housing per year for the next two decades, over half of which need to be reserved for households that qualify as low-income. The report indicated builders' acceptance in terms of adaptation thus far. Citywide, two-thirds of all new single-family designs built last year included at least one ADU in their construction.

Sacramento offers preapproved architectural designs to property owners to mitigate housing crisis

2023-01-23T14:13:00-05:00

There is new housing help in Sacramento with the city now offering free architectural designs, permit-approved, to build on your property. You can download the plans straight from the city website. The aim is to increase housing across the city.

The available architectural plans are for accessory dwelling units (ADUs). In this instance, they will come in three forms: studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom units. This move by Sacramento is meant to address the city’s housing crisis by providing property owners an incentive to build and offer space for those in need of a home. As noted by Garret Norman, a senior planner with Sacramento, this plan aims to save costs and time due to not needing to hire designers or going through the normal review process.

Constructing more ADUs is a major element in Sacramento’s goal to create 45,000 new housing units over the next seven years. The city is currently falling behind state guidelines that require more than 5,600 new homes to be built each year.

New prefabricated tiny house can be assembled in an hour for less than $40,000

2022-12-05T15:22:00-05:00

A Los Angeles-based tiny house startup named Vika Living has unveiled a compact, semi-permanent housing unit that it says can be set up in an hour for just under $40,000.

Called the Vika One, the fully prefabricated dwellings provide 144 square feet of living space, with a shared sleeping, living, dining, kitchen area, and separate bathroom. Its ceilings stand 8.5 feet tall, paired with a floor-to-ceiling glass wall and a 42-square-foot outdoor terrace.

The tiny house is also delivered complete with furnishings and fixtures, including a bed, table, chairs, toilet, kitchen, storage units, and mechanical systems for HVAC, water, power, and waste. There is also an off-grid model, which includes rooftop solar panels and batteries, fresh water pumping and filtration, and off-grid waste systems.

Image: Vika Living

The units are fully assembled in Vika Living’s Los Angeles factory and then delivered and installed on site. No foundations or heavy equipment are needed to set them up.

The ...

Airbnb co-founder's startup Samara unveils 'Backyard,' its first ADU model for California

2022-11-16T11:29:00-05:00

California-based housing startup Samara has unveiled further details of their factory-produced studio and one-bedroom units. The company, led by Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia and former Flex chief executive Mike McNamara, will now roll out a selection of customizable ADU units, collectively known as the Backyard range, across Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Image credit: Samara

Backyard studio units start at $289,000 and one-bedroom units start at $329,000, including installation costs. While the pricing of the units remains the same throughout California, the cost of installation differs based on regional factors. Customers can also choose between five colors, two roof designs, and customizable windows, doors, and decks.

Image credit: Samara

“Built out of durable, cutting-edge materials, precision engineered and assembled in a factory, Backyard is designed to last a lifetime,” Samara said. “It harvests enough solar energy to power itself, and we’ve made it incredib...

'Inflatable' concrete homes are coming to the market thanks to this startup

2022-10-11T15:29:00-04:00

A new solution to America’s multifaceted housing frustrations is blowing up in New York’s Hudson River Valley thanks to a startup called Automatic Construction.

The company says it has invented a new technique named the Inflatable Flexible Factory Formwork (or IFFF), which, with the help of an air pump and compressor, can inflate first the unrolled PVC formwork for the residential structure before a concrete mix reinforced by drop-stitch fibers is poured inside to settle.

The pouring process itself takes only about an hour to complete. After the concrete has cured to around 70% strength, shoring is removed while the membrane remains in place as a means of providing waterproofing for the structure. Drywall, doors, windows, and cladding are added to complete the structure, which, for now, is finished off with rebar that CEO Alex Bell says may come pre-installed in the future.

Image courtesy Automatic Construction

"The prefabricated forms are built in our factory with reinforcement in ...

On the potential 'second draft' of the American suburbs

2022-07-28T13:29:00-04:00

It could look like another round of flight from the city. Or what we may be witnessing is a “second draft” of the American suburbs. Many communities that were once white, exclusionary, and car-dependent are today diverse and evolving places, still distinct from the big city but just as distinct from their own “first draft” more than a half-century ago.

The American suburbs are continuing to diversify and gain millennials and increased numbers of immigrants, two groups that have traditionally been confined to cities. More mixed-use and affordable developments are being delivered in suburban areas where single-family constructions have long dominated. Considerations for car-free and walkable communities are also becoming more popular in planning circles, joined by taller buildings, improved restaurant culture, and nightclubs. As Addison Del Mastro noted in the Vox piece, “the makings of a suburban transformation are here.”

Indeed. Home builders are currently attempting to meet a perplexing demand challenge by going smaller and cheaper, leading to a 7% decrease in single-family starts in June. ADUs are also starting to present themselves as affordable solutions, along with more newfashioned inventions like co-living that, in combination, are making the never-ending horizontal sprawl of the suburbs much denser. In the words of one eco...

AIA Home Design Trends Survey shows demand for larger homes remaining strong despite shortages

2022-07-01T10:00:00-04:00

The latest data from the American Institute of Architects shows a continued increase in a homebuilding trend that began in the throes of the pandemic and has not abated in the face of supply-chain shortages and several countervailing trends in the residential construction market.

According to the AIA’s newly-released Home Design Trends Survey, interest in larger homes has grown for a second consecutive year after remaining largely stagnant for a period of five.

Extract of the AIA Home Design Trends Survey. The full survey is available here.

ADUs and micro apartment designs saw slight decreases in demand but remain popular. Other trends, including aging-in-home options for seniors, saw increases as pandemic worries and a dramatic shift in working conditions caused a spike in demand for converted features like finished basements and garage spaces. The Q2 statistics also revealed a large number of blended indoor-outdoor areas being requested as well.

Extract of the AIA Home Design Tre...

Rice architecture students design and build ADU with a nod to Texas’ architectural past

2022-05-05T08:29:00-04:00

Architecture students from Rice University have unveiled their newly-completed accessory dwelling unit (ADU) in Houston, Texas. Designed by Rice alumni Madeleine Pelzel and Kati Gullick during their time at the university, the 640-square-foot ADU was ultimately built in real life over a period of three years.

The solar-powered structure is split by an outside breezeway reminiscent of traditional Texas Dogtrot dwellings, with a living room and kitchen on one side and a bedroom and bathroom on the other. The Dogtrot form dates back to the era before air conditioning, designed to encourage natural ventilation and shading. Separating the living and sleeping elements of the home also allows for more precise energy use, rather than heating or cooling the entire unit simultaneously.

Image via Rice University

To create the scheme’s unique roof structure, the students used a computer-controlled mill to print plywood plates, connecting the roof and walls at precise angles. The roof’s gentle s...

'First community of 3D printed, recycled plastic homes' to be built in California

2022-02-25T11:42:00-05:00

California-based Azure Printed Homes has announced intentions to construct 14 prefabricated 3D printed homes using recycled plastic. The homes will form part of a new housing development in Ridgecrest, California, led by Oasis Development.

The project will build on Azure’s existing production of backyard studios and ADUs, which it produces from its factory in Culver City, CA. The company claims that 3D printing their ADUs and studios from recycled plastic allows them to build the units 70% faster and with 30% fewer costs than traditional home construction methods.

An ADU unit by Azure Printed Homes. Image via Azure Printed Homes.

“We have created production efficiencies not only by capitalizing on the advances in 3D printing but by creating a design and process that is completed in only 12 hours,” says Ross Maguire, a co-founder of Azure. “When compared with conventional construction, we produce the entire structural skeleton, the exterior sheathing, the water control barrier, th...

San Diego's suburbs are becoming the new frontline in the state's battle over ADUs

2021-10-11T15:57:00-04:00

The pressure to remake neighborhoods like Clairemont is due not to some sudden shift in what people want out of a home but rather to the sweeping social changes that have already played out inside them. As the Columbia University historian Kenneth Jackson wrote in “Crabgrass Frontier,” his seminal history of America’s suburbs: “No society can be fully understood apart from the residences of its members.”

Applications for ADUs in San Diego have skyrocketed since 2018, part of a nationwide trend that is changing the way some cities are tackling the affordability crisis which has gotten out of hand as a direct result of antiquated housing policy that insisted on the type of single-family developments that, for some, forms the basis of the American Dream.

The state recently passed two laws effectively banning single-family zoning in an effort to create some of the anticipated 1.8 million units of housing needed by 2025 to match demands. San Diego recently surpassed Los Angeles on a list of least affordable metro areas in the United States. Home prices averaging north of $800,000 have far outpaced the city's median income. The New York Times has a look at some of the real faces of California’s housing crisis here.

California may be about to clear a major hurdle in its mad scramble to find more affordable housing

2021-08-27T14:20:00-04:00

California needs more affordable housing — quickly. 1.8 million homes by 2025 to be exact. What the state will actually do about is becoming clearer after a Thursday decision to advance Senate Bill 9, a measure that would allow for multi-unit development on suburban lots previously reserved for single-family dwellings, in the state assembly and (hopefully) to the desk of Governor Gavin Newsome ahead of his September 14th recall election.

The vote comes after years of legislative attempts to unstick the state from its current housing predicament. Since 2010, California has been able to add only one housing unit for every five new residents to the state, which only began to contract in the last year owing to a variety of economic and environmental factors.

The squeeze has produced attendant problems like increasing homelessness and a debilitating loss of younger professionals who can no longer aff...

A possible future for ADUs and its growing 'familiarity factor'

2021-03-30T15:08:00-04:00

The allure of ADU's has grown significantly. Yet, with new state laws initiated in places like California pre-fabricated options for backyard dwelling units are more accessible to those who want them.

This past month, Los Angeles launched its new ADU Standard Plan Program to streamline the approval process while "promoting good design" with preapproved plans. In our previous editorial coverage, Los Angeles hopes to cut housing red tape with preapproved ADU designs, our team showcased a selection of designs from architectural firms.

SO – IL: 1-story, 1 bedroom with options (693 sf)

Jennifer Bonner/MALL: 1-story, 1-bedroom with roof deck with options (652 sf)

sekou cooke STUDIO: 2- bedroom 2 -bathroom (1,200 sf)

Continuing with coverage of ADU growth, Bloomberg CityLab's Kriston Capps reports on California's new "backyard apartment boom." Using Los Angeles, San Jose, and Portland's ADU growth, there's more to these backyard units than extra space. Kim-Mai Cutler, a partner at the ventur...

Los Angeles hopes to cut housing red tape with preapproved ADU designs

2021-03-08T19:00:00-05:00

More than a dozen designs for accessory dwelling units, known as ADUs, will be offered through the city’s ADU Standard Plan Program [...]. The small-scale, stand-alone residences are generally tucked into properties zoned for single-family homes. The idea, says the city’s chief design officer (and former Times architecture critic), Christopher Hawthorne, is to take a weeks-long permitting process and “turn it into an approval that is over-the counter.”

Notoriously plagued by a shortage of housing stock, Los Angeles has launched a new initiative that aims to drastically shorten the approval process — and promote good design — with preapproved accessory dwelling unit (ADU) plans.

The ADU Standard Plan Program will start out with designs by 14 architectural firms, ranging from well-known practices to emerging studios: wHY, SO – IL, Design, Bitches, LA Más, Jennifer Bonner/MALL, sekou cooke STUDIO, Fung + Blatt Architects, Escher GuneWardena Architecture, Connect Homes, Amunátegui Valdés, IT House, First Office, Abodu, and Welcome Projects.

Below is a small selection from the initial roster of plans.

LA Más: 1-story, studio with options (3D-printed home)

SO – IL: 1-story, 1 bedroom with options (693 sf)

Amunátegui Valdés: 1-story, 2-bedroom with covered roof deck and options (934 sf)

IT House: 2-story including mechanical room with options (660 sf)

Design, Bitches: 1-story, 1 bedroom with options (454 sf)

wHY: 1-story, 1 or 2 bedroom with...

Seattle-based Hybrid Architecture realizes vibrant multi-family housing development

2020-05-11T13:37:00-04:00

Big Mouth House was developed by Hybrid Architecture, led by Rob Humble in collaboration with Kailin Gregga of Best Practice Architecture and sole practitioner Steven Lazen. The team transformed a 5,760-square-foot single-family lot in Seattle's Central District into three dynamic townhomes.

Each three-story unit contains an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) at the lowest level that can be used as an extension of the home or as a separate rental apartment. The ADU can be accessed from a separate exterior entrance or through an interior lockable door, providing the primary resident the flexibility to determine its proper function.

The second level houses two bedrooms and one bathroom, distinguishing the more private areas of the home. The third level holds the living and dining rooms accompanied by large windows that frame views of the surrounding urban landscape.

Open rafters articulate the ceiling structure and give the space an added degree of height and depth. Black vertical metal cl...

LA-based Bunch Design tackles SoCal's ADU market with BunchADU

2020-01-08T19:13:00-05:00

LA-based design firm, Bunch Design, led by husband and wife team Bo Sundius and Hisako Ichiki, have launched BunchADU, which focuses on custom and pre-designed Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). In response to the new demand for ADUs in California, BunchADU aims to design spaces that feel large and open.

Echo Park ADU.

"The sense of expansive space, careful use of light and color, moving partitions and high ceilings, all make the spaces feel large even when most of our ADU designs are under 800 square feet. The result is that the people who live and work in these small homes never feel like they are in a small space," said Bunch co-owner Hisako Ichiki about the firm's approach.

Highland Park ADU.

The duo have experienced the impact of ADUs first hand after they built one on their own property for parents who needed care. The result is a structure that gives back to the family and works as a means of added support as the family grows. Moreover, Sundius and Ichiki have sought to streamlin...

California's stealthy approach to abolishing single-family zoning pays off

2019-10-12T15:00:00-04:00

For many, the long-standing neighborhood template of a home, backyard and garage on a lot was too intrinsic to the California lifestyle to upend. But over the past four years, a suite of smaller proposals has quietly chipped away at zoning only for single-family homes, attracting comparably little blowback.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has officially signed a series of bills into law that effectively eliminate single-family zoning across the state. The legislation, according to a report in The Los Angeles Times, allows property owners to build up to two additional residential units on any property currently zoned for single-family use.

Under the new rules, homeowners can build an 800-square-foot backyard unit in addition to also converting a garage or interior living space into a third residential unit. The new rules, set to take effect January 1, 2020, could up-end the state's ubiquitous suburban-style neighborhoods.

California eliminates single-family zoning

2019-09-16T12:15:00-04:00

Under AB 68, homeowners who apply to build accessory dwelling units, or “granny flats,” can also apply to build a second, “junior” ADU on their property — the functional equivalent of statewide triplex zoning. While the new rules don’t allow the subdivision of properties for sale, they could unleash a “golden age” of ADU construction across the state, leading to a significant increase in housing supply.

“The passage of AB 68 [...] fundamentally shifts the landscape for building new homes in our state,” Brian Hanlon, co-founder and president of zoning reform advocacy group California YIMBY said via press release, adding, “When the Governor signs these bills into law, almost every residential property in the state will be allowed to build three units of housing—including in areas zoned for single family homes.”

Philadelphia moves to allow ADUs in historic buildings

2019-08-28T21:00:00-04:00

A bill allowing these “accessory dwelling units” (ADUs) on historically designated properties won approval Tuesday from the city’s Planning Commission. The nod advanced a policy change that backers hope could help ease the burden of preserving creaky old houses while addressing growing demand for both affordable housing and dwellings suitable for aging in place.

The push to formalize Accessory Dwelling Units in historic buildings comes as the Philadelphia Planning Commission also moves to lower parking requirements and allow a greater number of uses for historic structures.

Boise embraces Accessory Dwelling Units

2019-07-03T12:35:00-04:00

Backyard cottages typically provide affordable housing in already developed neighborhoods. They’re one way Boise city leaders hope to rein in runaway rents and house prices. On Tuesday, the Boise City Council voted unanimously to relax city regulations on these units to encourage more density and affordable housing.

Bigger and better Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU) are headed to Boise, Idaho, where city officials have embraced a series of measures that could spur the development of new ADUs in the city. ADUs, for example, will now be able to include up to two bedrooms and up to 700 square feet of interior space. Parking restrictions have been lifted for one-bedroom and studio ADUs, as well.

Speaking in support of the new regulations, Holli Woodings, a Boise resident, told the City Council there, “It’s a way to build affordability, to build density and to allow folks to make a little bit of extra money off their properties.” She added, “I want to keep looking at how we can do things to encourage more than one dwelling per parcel.”

Oregon legalizes "missing middle" housing

2019-07-01T13:50:00-04:00

Oregon legislators took a historic leap toward greener, fairer, less expensive cities Sunday by passing the first law of its kind in the United States or Canada: A state-level legalization of so-called “missing middle” housing.

In a rare show of bipartisan cooperation, both of Oregon's legislative houses have voted to eliminate single-family zoning across the sate, legalizing so-called "missing middle" housing, including duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, and row houses.

If signed into law next month by Oregon governor Kate Brown, the bill will allow up to two housing units on all residential lots located within cities that have at least 10,000 residents. For cities of 25,000 residents and up, the bill allows up to four units per lot, including row houses and cottage clusters.

Missing middle housing was largely common in American cities prior to the invention of zoning codes in the early 20th century. In the century since, a pervasive focus on single-family residential areas, coupled with the long-term effects of racial segregation and redlining, has limited housing options for Americans while also eroding a key economic stepping stone for immigrants, first-time homeowners, retirees, and other groups. As a...

Seattle is upzoning to address its housing crisis

2019-05-21T12:52:00-04:00

Seattle’s upzoning plan is set to take place throughout the city, but only 6 percent of single-family neighborhoods will be affected. These neighborhoods will be rezoned to allow for smaller, denser housing, while encouraging developers to keep existing structures and turn them into multifamily housing — like duplexes — in order to preserve a neighborhood’s aesthetic.

Since 2010 Seattle's population has seen a hike of 16%, so have the rents and the property prices. And while real estate in the city is booming, little of the development is targeted towards the growing demand for affordable housing.

Today 75% of Seattle's residential land is zoned for single-family use, prohibiting the development of much needed higher density housing like apartment complexes throughout most of the city. This March, to address the affordable housing scarcity, Mayor Jenny Durkan signed a Mandatory Housing Affordability policy, which would change the zoning of 27 neighborhoods from single-family to multifamily. This "upzoning" is projected to generate 6,000 new homes over the next decade.

In its search for more progressive zoning, the Seattle City Council is also considering laws that'd allow construction of ADUs.

Seattle architecture professionals identify 5 residential trends

2018-09-13T15:11:00-04:00

As with every single other thing about Seattle, there’ve been some developments in residential design since 2008 [...] Here are five opportunities, in the form of developments in residential architecture over the past 10 years as identified — and expressed — by some plugged-in visionaries.

The Seattle Times tracked 5 developments in residential design addressing housing issues in the city. For each trend they spoke with an architecture professional working in the field. Below are Seattle's identified trends and some of the visionaries addressing them:

1. Multifamily Housing Moves Thoughtfully into Single-Family Neighborhood
-Mary Johnston of Johnston Architects
The Potential of the Detached Accessory Dwelling Unit
-Robert Hutchinson of Robert Hutchison Architecture
Modern Modular Housing
-Rick Mohler of Mohler + Ghillino Architects
High-End Design in High-Rise Apartments
-Olson Kundig Architects and Ankrom Moisan Architecture
Greener is the New Green
-Leah Missik of Built Green

Winners Announced for LA County's Yes to ADU Design Competition

2018-05-04T12:00:00-04:00

Hot-market cities grappling with a dearth of housing, like those along the coast of California, are increasingly looking at accessory dwelling units (ADUs)—commonly known as "granny flats—to help abate the statewide shortage. In 2016, California passed three laws aimed at facilitating in-law unit production; following the legalizations, the city of Los Angeles received 1,980 applications for secondary units in 2017 alone.

The County has also launched a number of adjacent initiatives with the goal of making sure that some of these new homes are affordable. One of such pilot programs comes through the LA County Board of Supervisors' Homeless Initiative and sets out to catalyze the community of architects, designers, planners and creative strategists to re-imagine the potential of ADUs as a housing typology that can work in conjunction with other strategies to help alleviate the County's housing pressure.

Working with the Art Commission Civic Art Program, the first phase of Part of th...

Houses designed for a multigenerational family

2012-11-30T14:43:00-05:00

Lennar started marketing its new designs last fall with particular gusto: “Next Gen — The Home Within a Home” is a title and tag line intended to wrap the notion of multigenerational living in a futuristic gloss. But it is more than just marketing; the blueprints themselves are changing.

Penelope Green examines the rise of homes designed for a multi-generational family. The new trend is driven by a number of factors including; the recession, traditional ethnic family structures, an aging population of baby-boomers.