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Houzz Tour: A Unique Garden Building Designed Around a Tree
This little house, built in the grounds of a bungalow, showcases space-enhancing tricks and playful design on a budget
Accessory dwelling units (ADUs) are secondary housing units based in the grounds of a single-family home and are popular in American cities where affordable housing is scarce. For all of their upsides, though, they do have some downsides. Their size is usually constrained by local regulations; they can be tricky to shoehorn into gardens, and they can be pricey. But as this ADU in Texas illustrates, those limitations can spur creativity.
The 84 sq m metal-clad unit, designed by North Arrow Studio, shares a narrow, 548 sq m plot with a 1939 bungalow and three large, protected pecan trees, including one in the centre of the site. The project’s builder, and the bungalow’s owner, was Brita Wallace, founder of real estate development firm Digs ATX.
Scroll down to see how smart and simple design choices – including an L-shaped layout, vaulted ceilings and quirky round windows that have earned the ADU the nickname “The Birdhouse” – helped make the little unit a big success.
The 84 sq m metal-clad unit, designed by North Arrow Studio, shares a narrow, 548 sq m plot with a 1939 bungalow and three large, protected pecan trees, including one in the centre of the site. The project’s builder, and the bungalow’s owner, was Brita Wallace, founder of real estate development firm Digs ATX.
Scroll down to see how smart and simple design choices – including an L-shaped layout, vaulted ceilings and quirky round windows that have earned the ADU the nickname “The Birdhouse” – helped make the little unit a big success.
The beautiful pecan tree – which, at more than 48cm in diameter, is protected in Austin – at the centre of the site steered the architects towards the ADU’s L-shaped footprint. Now the tree is the centrepiece of the courtyard formed by those two intersecting gable shapes. Along with the other mature trees on the site, it provides privacy and shade.
The light-coloured metal cladding also helps to keep the home cool in the summertime, as it reflects some of the intense Texas heat. The metal is 100% recyclable.
HC-16 panel corrugated metal cladding and roof in Shasta White, Berridge.
The light-coloured metal cladding also helps to keep the home cool in the summertime, as it reflects some of the intense Texas heat. The metal is 100% recyclable.
HC-16 panel corrugated metal cladding and roof in Shasta White, Berridge.
The wall on the right in this photo is made of corrugated polycarbonate, which matches the metal’s texture but is semitransparent. This provides privacy but allows light to filter into the entry area of the home, which is opposite the polycarbonate wall and right up against the neighbour’s property.
You’ll note that privacy is a recurring concept in the design, which makes sense given the close quarters.
Thinking of renovating? Find everyone you need, from interior designers to builders, carpenters and decorators, on Houzz.
You’ll note that privacy is a recurring concept in the design, which makes sense given the close quarters.
Thinking of renovating? Find everyone you need, from interior designers to builders, carpenters and decorators, on Houzz.
To the right of the polycarbonate wall is a bedroom, styled and used here as an office by designer and then renter Ben Newman. It has a vaulted ceiling that slopes up to more than 4m, giving the room a spacious feel that belies its small square footage, and high windows to let in light.
Its sliding glass doors open out onto a small deck and the courtyard, which feels at once welcoming and like a secluded outdoor space just for the renter.
The partially enclosed courtyard also feels like an extension of the living area, making the home feel larger.
Its sliding glass doors open out onto a small deck and the courtyard, which feels at once welcoming and like a secluded outdoor space just for the renter.
The partially enclosed courtyard also feels like an extension of the living area, making the home feel larger.
Between the entrance and the first-floor bedroom is a bathroom with a Vigo tap a Signature Hardware vessel sink and a bold red, white and black colour scheme. The vanity unit, from Ikea, is topped with a remnant from a stone yard.
Per the city regulations for new construction, there’s a wheelchair-accessible path all the way from the alleyway through the bathroom’s wide pocket door. The walls also have blocking for additional supports that can be added at a later date.
Per the city regulations for new construction, there’s a wheelchair-accessible path all the way from the alleyway through the bathroom’s wide pocket door. The walls also have blocking for additional supports that can be added at a later date.
The side of the ADU featured in the first photo holds an efficient kitchen, a little glimpse of which is provided here. The Formica-faced cabinet fronts are from Plykea, which manufactures cabinet fronts and worktops from solid Forest Stewardship Council-certified birch plywood to fit Ikea cabinetry. (These worktops are granite.)
Above this cabinet is the flip side of those three little windows seen next to the garage door in the first photo. Like the steel windows in the bathroom in the previous photo, they were custom-made on-site. These circular shapes are arguably the home’s signature feature. They did, after all, lead to the ADU’s nickname.
“There was no room really for large overhangs or undulations in the form,” Alicia says. “We were trying to keep it as simple as possible. So adding that little bit of fun through the round windows seemed like a simple way to introduce some visual interest, some playfulness, while still keeping it easy to construct and a very simple [shape].”
Above this cabinet is the flip side of those three little windows seen next to the garage door in the first photo. Like the steel windows in the bathroom in the previous photo, they were custom-made on-site. These circular shapes are arguably the home’s signature feature. They did, after all, lead to the ADU’s nickname.
“There was no room really for large overhangs or undulations in the form,” Alicia says. “We were trying to keep it as simple as possible. So adding that little bit of fun through the round windows seemed like a simple way to introduce some visual interest, some playfulness, while still keeping it easy to construct and a very simple [shape].”
The living room is open to the kitchen, and Ben styled it with clean-lined modern and midcentury modern furnishings.
The garage door was an inexpensive alternative to sliding glass doors. Currently it’s not used, so the pendant light’s location isn’t a problem.
The garage door was an inexpensive alternative to sliding glass doors. Currently it’s not used, so the pendant light’s location isn’t a problem.
The main bedroom is upstairs, above the ground floor bedroom/office. It features a distinctive double-vaulted ceiling that fits in that double-gabled form and, at its peak, is an airy 3.2m high. A platform bed emphasises the height and sits comfortably below a 1.5m-diameter round window by Pella that frames the treetops outside.
White oak flooring, Hardwood Bargains.
White oak flooring, Hardwood Bargains.
The window at the head of the bed does not open, but an operable window was required for escape if necessary. So in a pinch, this one, which is also 1.5m in diameter and overlooks the courtyard, was custom-made on-site.
“It turned out to be a beautiful window. You can open it up and be right in the tree canopy,” Alicia says. It’s a delight born from necessity, like many of the ADU’s design features.
“We tried to make it simple, and it makes us smile at the end of the day,” Alicia says of the project as a whole.
“It turned out to be a beautiful window. You can open it up and be right in the tree canopy,” Alicia says. It’s a delight born from necessity, like many of the ADU’s design features.
“We tried to make it simple, and it makes us smile at the end of the day,” Alicia says of the project as a whole.
Who lives here? The property is rented out
Location Austin, Texas, USA
Size Two bedrooms and two bathrooms (84 sq m)
Architecture team Francisco Arredondo (principal architect), Bobbie Behm (project manager) and Alicia Pierce of North Arrow Studio
Builder Brita Wallace of Digs ATX
Photos by Chase Daniel
The North Arrow Studio team set out to create an easy-to-construct and economical design that would put every one of the 84 sq m (900 sq ft is the maximum allowed by the city of Austin) to work. At the same time, they wanted the ADU to complement the existing primary residence and the neighbourhood, which has a lot of older single-family homes. And per the client’s request, they wanted it to feel like a normal home.
They came up with a two-storey, dual-gable design clad and roofed in light corrugated metal. The material “is a nod to a lot of the sheds and accessory buildings that were already throughout the neighbourhood, but in kind of a modern and playful take,” says architect Alicia Pierce (pictured).
This view is of the side of the ADU that faces an alley at the back of the plot. The entrance (not pictured) is around to the left. To get orientated, scroll to the site and floor plans at the end of the story.
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