PCC ADU Design Wraps Up

Portland Community College ADU Design students show off their designs at the end of a weekend intensive

This past weekend Lina Menard, one of our editors and the coordinator of the ADU Case Studies Project, taught an ADU Design Class through Portland Community College. The fourteen students brought a variety of project ideas, including everything from garage and basement conversions to backyard cottages, additions, and renovation of a workshop.

We kicked off the weekend with design exercises to get creative juices flowing and then had Kol Peterson of Accessory Dwelling Strategies (and one of the creators of AccessoryDwellings.org) join us as a guest speaker to share information about regulations so our students could learn about the constraints specific to their situation. We designed an ADU together at life-size and practiced capturing it on the page. Then each of the students worked through layout considerations for their own designs.

We were lucky enough to use the Water Pollution Control Center for the course, which has views of the Willamette and great natural daylight. Since it poured (and periodically snowed!) throughout the weekend it was a lovely space for design work and it gave us room to spread out as people played with modeling and design materials.

On Sunday our designs went into the third dimension as we explored sections and elevations (and discovered that some of us are going to have to rethink our stairs!) We had several other special guests join us who have real-life experience designing, building, and living in ADUs. (We’ll keep secret who they were so you’ll be surprised when you take the course yourself, but let’s just say that all of our guests have been featured on the AccessoryDwellings.org website!) By the end of the second day our students presented their big ideas to the group to receive feedback which they can use as they continue noodling over their ADU designs.

If you’re interested in joining us for the next round of ADU Design, mark your calendar for May 6-7 and stay tuned for registration information!

About linamenard

Hi. My name is Lina Menard and I'm a small house dweller, designer, blogger, and builder. I'm currently collecting ADU Case Studies for AccessoryDwellings.org. Through my company Niche Consulting LLC, I help people design and build the home (and life) of their dreams! I also tell my stories about simple living in small spaces - like a travel trailer, a yurt, a backyard cottage, and tiny houses on wheels - at Niche News.

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