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ADCube
El Sereno, CA2025
The ADCube grew out of a review of the standard ADU plans approved by the city of Los Angeles. Many were quite well designed, but most ran oblong and single-story, to lodge into residual side and backyard spaces. Instead, we developed a proposal that could fit within the footprint of a standard two-car garage and capitalize on California residential height limits. The ADCube, just under 20’ cubed in its overall dimensions, features 633sf of interior space, with a second story providing more privacy than the flat guesthouse format of most ADUs. The ADCube aims for spatial, structural, and thermal efficiency: its minimal surface-to-volume ratio means less exterior area is exposed to the sun relative to the space inside. Solar paneling on the roof further reduces that exposure.
Designed with our leading questions in mind, the ADCube unites flexibility and autonomy to accommodate a variety of family formations, support aging-in-place, and bolster community resilience. Our first ADCube is now home to a couple displaced by the Eaton Fire.
Some numbers governing the ADCube, or diameters and what they indicate. Solid circles indicate code requirements. Dotted circles are conventional or elective dimensions.
A. 28’-3.5” – The hypotenuse of a 20’ x 20’ right triangle – useful for squaring staked corners.
B. 20’ – 20’ x 20’ – A standard US two-car garage.
C. 18’-8” – Inner face of finished exterior walls.
D. 18’ – Exterior height from F.F. – with parallax, 20’ would loom / feel taller than it is wide.
E. 10’ – 10’ x 10’ (120” x 120”) minimum atrium dimensions to not to feel like a stairwell.
F. 7’-6” – (90”) minimum floor height.
G. 5’ – (60”) ADA bathroom turning radius; also, the width of queen mattress (60” x 80”) and the length of standard bathtub (30” x 60”).
H. 4’ – (48”) Width of 4x8 and 4x10 sheets of plywood / drywall / strand board – all panelize the ADCube’s four 18’ x 20’ elevations without trimming.
J. 3’ – (36”) Minimum stair tread and landing width requirement; also, typical counter height, minimum main entry width, and the nominal width of most sheet metal cladding.
K. 11” – Minimum floor assembly depth with 2x10 joists.
L. 6” – Allowable open space at stair riser.
M. 4” – “Baby’s head” maximum opening rule: could a 4” sphere, like a baby’s head, get caught in your stair railings? 1.5” x 5.5” – Nominal 2x6 – required framing depth to accommodate R-21 batt insulation.