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Bal Seal Engineering
16 / BUILDING DIALOGUE / JUNE 2017
T here is a radical new trend in housing
about to sweep through Denver; of course,
you probably won’t even notice. Over the
last few years, I have had the same conversa-
tion with many different people and see a clear
pattern emerging: accessory dwelling units (aka
ADUs) would work really well in Denver. They are
not really new and most will be effectively invisi-
ble, but they are on their way and it is pretty cool
for the healthy growth of the city.
Conversations with various people in the plan-
ning and development community as well as the
well-informed group assembled at the Mayor’s Hous-
ing Summit and the AIA Housing Knowledge Com-
munity have consistently devolved to the same basic
question, “Why don’t we have more ADUs in Denver?”
A few of these insightful people discussing this topic
might be a coincidence, a few more just anecdotal,
but the local debate coupled with the success of the
movement in Seattle, Portland, Oregon, Austin, Texas,
and other cities suggests more. On top of this recent
resurgence, Denver already has many older ADUs
in the carriage houses of its historic neighborhoods,
since they were a regular part of cities until the mid-
20th century.
So what is an ADU? Though it may sound like
the name of a NASA space station module, accesso-
ry dwelling units are actually everything from base-
ment apartments to carriage houses, but the current-
ly trending topology is the alley flat. A rental unit
“docked” to a single-family home is an ADU. This an-
tiseptic term has caught traction because it covers so
many interesting buildings forms: granny flats, alley
flats, laneway houses, backyard cottages, and the list
goes on. ADUs are unique in their flexibility, small
size and potential to fit into many different neigh-
borhoods.
Alley flats and other detached ADU typologies are
appealing because they look good. They are the puppy
form of housing, and it is hard not to love the cute-
ness of these buildings. Beyond the visual advantag-
es of their small size and ability to fit in almost any-
where, ADUs are flexible. They can start out as a man
cave or studio, then pay for themselves as a short-
term rental. Over time, they could transition from
housing a live-in nanny, to a growing teenager, to an
aging parent or caregiver. Another family might find
that they move into their ADU first and rent out the
larger front house, then move into the front house
when their family grows, then move back into the
ADU when the kids are gone.
In Denver, about 44 percent of the city is made up of
Andre LH
Baros, AIA
Architect,
Shears
Adkins
Rockmore
In the Details