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Keg Cactus ADU
San Diego, California, USA | Addition to a Single-Family Residence | 2023 to Present
The Keg Cactus Residence is a 1,150 square foot addition (ADU or Accessory Dwelling Unit) to a single-family home in the suburbs of the San Diego area. At the project's inception, the clients had relocated from Tucson, Arizona to San Diego, California. They fell in love with the desert landscape of Tucson and wanted to bring it with them to their new residence. After buying a mid-century style house in San Diego (not shown for privacy reasons), they wanted to add an ADU and re-work the backyard to feature one of their favorite native plants: the keg cactus.
The project's architectural language is a nod to the adjacent existing mid-century modern house, while offering a contemporary response through its repetition of curved forms, inspired by the rounded keg cactus shapes. The plan layout of the ADU unfolds across a series of cactus planters, which provide privacy between the main house and the ADU, as well as act as bioretention basin planters. The planters also help negotiate the grade change of the sloping site by serving as retaining walls.
Overall, the main feature of the project is the interplay between a curved, prefabricated glass-fiber reinforced roof together with the curved Keg Cactus planters, both of which share the same rhythm. Both elements marry technology and sustainability, and seek to demonstrate that sustainable elements can be aesthetic and beautiful through harmonizing architecture and landscape.
The project is expected to enter construction in 2025.
Michael Matthews, AIA
Contact: mikedavematt (at) gmail
Resume available upon request |
Michael Matthews Studio
Full Service Licensed Architecture Firm
Registered with American Institute of Architects
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