ADU Design & Build

An ADU succeeds or fails on the things decided before anyone draws a line: what the lot allows, where the unit sits, how it connects to utilities, and how it will actually be used. The work starts there — reading the site and the rules so the design is grounded in what is genuinely buildable rather than a wish that unravels at plan check.

What an ADU project involves

• Feasibility — confirming lot size, setbacks, height limits, and which ADU type (detached, attached, garage conversion, or junior ADU) fits the property.
• Design — a layout proportioned to the way the space will live, with light, privacy, and the relationship to the main house considered from the start.
• Permit drawings — the construction documents the city reviews, prepared to the standard a plan checker expects.
• Construction — building the unit and coordinating the trades, inspections, and utility connections through to completion.

Detached, attached, conversion, or junior

Los Angeles treats these as distinct paths, each with its own rules on size, parking, and separation. A detached ADU behaves like a small standalone home; a garage conversion reuses an existing footprint; a junior ADU is carved from the main house. Choosing the right type early is what keeps the budget and the timeline honest.

Designed as one process

Because the design and the build are handled together, decisions made on paper are tested against what it takes to construct them. That continuity is the point of a design-build approach: fewer handoffs, fewer surprises, and a single point of accountability from the first sketch to the final inspection.