LIGHT LOFT

Team: JT Bachman + Katie Stranix

Light Loft is an off-grid Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) for the rear yard of a single-family home within a suburban neighborhood of central Virginia. It is a modular prototype for an affordable and energy-efficient ADU within this context, designed as an experientially expansive space within a physically limited footprint. Through its expressive roof, familiar materials, and sustainable approach to energy on site, Light Loft offers spaces that respond to the physical, social, and mental health needs of both its occupants and the larger social and environmental context.

Light Loft is designed as a completely off-grid structure, reducing its impact on the surrounding environment. It utilizes solar energy, rainwater collection, greywater recycling, and composting to maintain a minimal carbon footprint and to reduce energy costs for occupants.