ADU : RE-THINK

ADU: The location of ADU is a beneficial effect on design. One of the typical locations of the garage in old houses of Los Angeles is the rear end of property after a long driveway. The driveway is used as a parking space for the front house also as a walkway leading to the back house. We want to make this walkway for the renters to feel entering to their own place by designing a gravel path and gate with a front garden.

ADU is located further inside from the street, the view of the street beyond from the new house is much deeper and enjoyable.

ADU: Building shape and material become identity Turfstone pavers laid in herringbone pattern and it generates natural edges for the landscape. The gravels contrast with the pattern. Functionally, the turfstone permeable paver allows rainwater to be gradually filtered back into the soil naturally, resulting in the control and stabilization of soil erosion. The volume initiated from a minimum length of overhang by the code is created into an angled geometry. It is attractive and functional.

The smooth white painted MDO panel and aluminum exterior finish contrasts with the cement/gravel finish. The courtyard pavers continue the same aesthetic with the walls. The contained geometry always set the boundary for the natural or uncontrollable materials and this contrast is creating more effective materiality.

We applied a new building finish technique to make this hidden monolithic object grounded between two houses. Regarding the materials for the exterior, the old-time construction technique from Korea has been experimented in the walls of the house. It is called “Jongseok Mijang” and it is scraping process a few hours later after the cement/gravel mixture applies to the wall. The mock ups had been implemented before it actually applied to the walls. The variation of gravel sizes and shapes, the cement color and amount of sand affect the result of the finish. It is also affected by the weather. Its strong and brutal finish is visual when the scraped-out pocket gets shadow effect in a metal trimmed volume. The finish also becomes energy efficient. The thermal mass that the walls provide to a building are able to absorb heat during the day and release it at night. This passive transfer smooths out heat transmission through the walls and limits the need for mechanical systems.

The exterior angled line of overhang continues interior ceiling line to complete the rectangular shape. This creates soffit lights in the living/kitchen open space.

The skylight in the hallway brings daylight into space with minimum wall windows for privacy and acts as a focal design feature. The material palette of the interior is limited to white and light birch plywood to create the small space more expansive and recognizable by light and shadow and to give a canvas for furnishing.

ADU: Design a lifestyle In our neighborhood community, many young creative professionals are demanding to find their places to live. We appreciate this rental market that enables us to push our design aspiration and to satisfy potential renters' optimal lifestyle through this house. Wall storage cabinet is integrated with design and it gives functional organizing solutions.

During the pandemic, switching from office to home work left many people having to figure out where they would actually set up their new offices. ADU is a perfect solution.

ADU: Create balance between two houses. Since we know the new house will be used as a rental unit, privacy is one of the important considerations of design. There are no windows looking into the backyard of the both houses for privacy but an oversized skylight in the hallway in the new house permits natural light and ambient mood in the space. Beyond the privacy for each other, there are two more design elements to consider. First, many ADU are converted from garage space which is mostly used as a big storage space for the homeowners then they lose storage space immediately. To compensate for the need of storage space, 50sqf of accessible space is allocated to the existing house for the storage. Second, the facing walls or elevations of the new house toward the existing house are important views from the backyard in the existing house. They need to be aesthetically pleasing for residents in the existing house. Building an ADU is creating a small community on your private property. You will learn how to share, communicate and show your own identity to your neighbor. It means more than an accessory dwelling unit.