NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Sustainability, aging in place and cost effectiveness were the focus of the winning ADU designs in the North Adams Partnership's Small & Smart Design Competition. 

 

Grace Perrault and Ryleigh Holland of McCann Technical School, and Ruth Estien Garcia of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst were the top student designers. 

 

Estein Garcia of Springfield, an architecture student at UMass, said her experience working with older people had really informed her light-filled design, which incorporated mobility for wheelchair users. 

 

"I know this will help their daily lives and their daily movement, to be able to get up and feel more alive in their day, because a lot of houses here, they don't have a lot of light, and that gets people very depressed," she said. "There's a lot of space for someone with a wheelchair to move ... Everything is based up to code ... for the ADA in Massachusetts."

 

Perrault said she was thinking about affordability and aesthetics. "I didn't want it to feel like a shed, so I tried my best to make it feel like the home," she said, and to ensure it had space for a dining area so the occupants could still have family over for holidays, like Thanksgiving. 

 

Sustainability and a look that fit into the community were top considerations for Holland. "I went through about three rough sketches before I decided on this one because of the cost and sustainability," she said. Her design has a built-in ramp and large wraparound porch. 

 

They shared the spotlight with professionals Kuth Ranieri Architects of Franklin and San Francisco, Rare Forms Inc. of Easthampton, and Office Anthony Adelmann, based in the state of Washington.

 

"The judges were so impressed with the quality of the submissions that we received, and it was far from an easy decision to make, but we all agreed that three submissions met the criteria of universal design, cost effectiveness, sustainability and innovation the best," said judge Julie Reilly, a museum and arts conservation consultant. 

 

Her fellow judges were Myla Franklin, David Wall, Brian Miksic, Brett Roberts, and Andy Schlatter.

 

The cash awards of $2,500 for the professionals and $500 for the students were presented on Nov. 6 at Hotel Downstreet. 

 

Jenny Wright, executive director of the partnership, said the contest had grown out of discussions about housing challenges at the library. 

 

"There were probably about 20 people in the room, they all had the following things in common: they owned their own homes, their kids were grown and out of the house, so they had way more house than they needed. Many of them were living alone, and the cost to maintain these structures is becoming untenable," she said. 

 

"It's a lot to maintain a house, particularly when most of the houses in North Adams were built around the turn of the century, the last century. So all of these folks were interested in downsizing, and got together to talk about what options might be out there."

 

Last year's Affordable Homes Act made it feasible to build small, but affordable, accessory dwelling units in residential zones. 

 

But where to start? Wright found that AARP had grants for an ADU design challenge, adding that the organization had loads of material and data on accessory units. A working group obtained the Community Challenge grant and opened up the competition as widely as possible. 

 

Wright said they were hoping for at least five applicants -- they got 50, over half from students. In fact, McCann's computer assisted drawing program folded the ADU challenge into its curriculum.

 

"I just want to give McCann a huge round of applause for having this conversation, knowing that there's an entire generation of young people who are already thinking about the problems that we are trying to solve, and when they graduate, they're going to be ready, they're going to be ready to engage," she said.

 

It was up to the six judges to sift through the submissions to make their determinations on the top three. 

 

"The different backgrounds and expertise that people brought to that judging panel were so important to that deliberation process," said Wright. "Everybody left having learned something. Everybody left having changed their mind about something that they thought they understood."

 

AARP was represented by Carin Upstill of Pittsfield, a member of the Massachusetts Advisory Council for Berkshire County. She said the organization has programs on caregiving, Social Security and Medicare, and now livable communities and walkable streets. 

 

The ADU grant challenge is new, although their has been other funding opportunities for Habitat for Humanity and building modifications. 

 

"There are a number of ADU units built and and implemented on properties, mostly east of the Springfield area, but west very little," she said, adding she and Wright were planning to discuss "how we can perhaps foster more awareness around Berkshire County overall, because there's really very little ownership of ADUs, even though the law permits it."