Archinect - News

Brookings research gives Los Angeles communities guidance for future ADU implementation

2024-05-02T18:02:00-04:00

New research published recently by the Brookings Institution has provided details of how local government in Los Angeles can galvanize a newfound abundance of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) through policy changes in order to combat an ongoing housing crisis currently affecting more than one million Angelenos.

Authors Jenny Schuetz and Eve Devens state: “The Los Angeles region offers a useful setting to explore the prospects of affordable ADUs. Four jurisdictions within the region have developed affordable ADU pilot programs. One program, the city of Los Angeles’ LA ADU Accelerator Program, offers operating subsidies for existing ADUs, while the other three offer development subsidies as well as vouchers to cover operating costs.”

This research can be used to bolster architects’ so-called “toolkit” of affordable housing solutions in conjunction with the recent Harvard Center for Housing joint study that compared the strengths and failures of California’s policies with those in othe...

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.

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...

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...

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...

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 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.

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...