This ADU proposes aging in place through backyard downsizing, allowing residents to reduce costs while maintaining community ties and passing on their primary home. Designed to exceed ADA accessibility, the interior enables full mobility through sliding partitions organized around a central wet-wall core. A garden path around the ADU transforms required setback space into accessible outdoor circulation. The design prioritizes sunlight, ventilation, and privacy while maintaining a strong visual connection to the main house through its greenhouse. The project showcases a variety of hemp-based materials from pre-fabricated hempcrete blocks, hemp fiber batts, corrugated panels from hemp fiber and bio resin as well as particle boards from hemp hurd. Already well-established in Europe, the manufacturing of hemp-based materials in the US is stifled by complex regulations and lack of infrastructure following decades of prohibition to grow this crop.
