Accordion House

An adaptable infill prototype for Southern California’s urban leftovers

Born from a contour misinterpretation, Accordion House embraces error as opportunity—leveraging topographical misreading to develop a housing typology that adapts fluidly to the uneven, overlooked, and often misfit parcels scattered across Los Angeles’ sprawling landscape. This project is an exploration in turning constraints into form-giving assets, and ultimately, a solution for more resilient and inclusive infill development.

Designed for Site A, Accordion House subdivides a small, irregular lot into two separate parcels. Each includes a primary dwelling, a junior accessory dwelling unit (JADU), and a detached accessory dwelling unit (ADU). With footprints deliberately compact, the structures step up or down the terrain, allowing the design to conform to both upsloping and downsloping sites—real or misread. The cascading rooflines expand and compress like the bellows of an accordion, giving the project its name and architectural rhythm.

A key innovation lies in the design of the detached ADU. Separated from the main structure by a wedge-shaped courtyard entry, the ADU gains spatial independence while maintaining density within inches of the primary unit. This spatial maneuver unlocks privacy and light without sacrificing compactness. The ADU is vertical—stacked over three levels within the 1,200-square-foot maximum—while the JADU sits at grade, within the 500-square-foot limit, offering one accessible, street-level option ideal for persons with disabilities.

To enable this level of density while maintaining safety and code compliance, all units are designed with enhanced fire protection in mind. Each dwelling is fully sprinklered, and the close proximity between structures is managed through careful fire-rated construction. Exterior walls facing one another are clad in non-combustible and rated to meet or exceed building code requirements. Openings on these elevations are limited or protected as necessary. This strategy allows the buildings to be placed closer together than typical detached units—making the most of tight setbacks and height limitations without compromising life safety. In doing so, fire safety becomes a proactive tool for unlocking greater density on constrained infill sites.

Massing is kept intentionally simple to ease construction and support energy efficiency. Vertical corrugated metal cladding provides a fire-resistant, cost-effective envelope complete with integrated rain-screen principles without additional strapping. Alternating low-slope roofs accommodate solar panels regardless of site orientation, reinforcing the climate-forward intent.
Accordion House proposes a repeatable framework for reclaiming Los Angeles’ forgotten in-between spaces. Through playful pragmatism and rigorous restraint, it shows how small, steep, and strange lots can become vibrant, livable, and equitable pieces of the city.


Jury Feedback: "Accordion House smartly intersperses ADUs among the primary units, eroding the socioeconomic hierarchy on site. The simple formal move of cracking open the building mass creates natural unit entrances while allowing the building to adjust the specifics of a given site."