We decided on an ADU in order to activate the backyard, The ADU also removes the need for parking in the rear yard, so the back yard also increased in size. -Planning Constraints- The Power lines in the rear of the yard needed an 8' radius with no building, the new parts of the ADU needed to be 4' from the Property line. These constraints were used to our advantage: the power line set back was used to create a back deck off the second-floor hallway. The 4' side yard set-back provided a space for bike storage and a new tree. -Materials & Methods of Construction- The Offset ADU relies on typical California stick frame construction with some structural steel for the front cantilever.
The U window in the bedroom/office was pushed up to the height of the parapet to create an endless relationship with the sky. The siding is an Ipe rainscreen, combined with a smooth stucco finish. The Ipe siding was an intense process, all the boards are complete and the cut outs for the bathroom window needed to be perfectly calculated and cut. The Ipe rain screen is fully on 2 sides and a small portion of the 3rd side. These are the two sides that are experienced from the property, the other two sides are facing the neighbors.
The windows are framed with wood shadow boxes. The U window is framed in wood along with the soffit with a mirror on the ceiling finishing the pill shape. This window’s framing along with ceiling mirror create an impossible space feeling when experience in person. There are two problems this project addresses. 1- How to execute an addition to a house that is new in look and concept We choose to build an ADU (Accessory Dwelling unit/ back house) instead of adding directly to the house. This allowed us to create a new sculptural element to the yard that transforms the experience of the home.
2- How to reduce the size of the yard while also making it more interesting. By building this project the size of the yard was reduced, but by putting the ADU in the middle corner of the yard, it helped to divide the yard into 3 parts, so the yard then becomes more interesting and more usable. The originally driveway became part of the yard because it was no longer needed as a driveway, it became a work out area and a place for the kids to play. The deck between the house and the ADU became a direct transition from house to ADU, the level of the deck is the same as the house and the entry level of the ADU so you can seamlessly travel between all three spaces.
Lastly the rear yard, this area became more private because the ADU was so close to the house and became more usable because the kitchen of the ADU has a door and floor to ceiling glass that connects to this area. Each of these spaces are also a different material so it adds diversity to the experience of the back yard.
The project is part of a new type of residential building being allowed in California, called an ADU, Accessory Dwelling Unit. The concept behind this new building type is to add more housing to the state of California. So by building this ADU this residential parcel now had twice as many units as it originally did, it has gone from 1living unit to 2 living units. One of the design strategies used in this project was to make all the rooms very versatile. The living room/dining room/kitchen is one large space so it could be used in many different ways.
The bedroom/office upstairs is also a larger L shaped room that presently has a murphy bed and a desk in it so it can be used as an extra bedroom and also an office. The 2nd level back deck is large enough to do crafts, sunbath, have a meal or work on your laptop, so we made sure it was also a space usable in many ways. The idea we worked with around reducing the carbon footprint was to reduce the size of the project itself and try to design a building that activates the outside space so the residents spend more time outside in the yard area.