All Work

Accessory Dwelling

Battery ADU

Four hundred square feet in downtown Raleigh, built to do two jobs at once: add a home where the city badly needs one, and earn its keep for the owner. Everything a person needs to live is in here. Full bath, full kitchen, washer and dryer, and properly conditioned air throughout.

Size400 sq ft
TypeAccessory Dwelling Unit
LocationDowntown Raleigh
Charcoal accessory dwelling unit with a red front door in a downtown Raleigh yard

Exterior  /  400 Square Feet, Downtown Raleigh

Interior of the accessory dwelling unit with a full kitchen and a custom ship ladder to the loft

A Custom Ship’s Ladder

A staircase would have eaten most of the floor. The ladder was built for this unit specifically, so the loft is genuinely usable without surrendering the living space underneath it.

The ship ladder rising to the loft alongside the unit doors
The carpeted loft at the top of the ladder, under the slope of the roof

Unfinished Floors, On Purpose

The floor was left unfinished for durability, because a rental floor takes a beating. It also works as thermal mass, holding the cool through a Carolina summer instead of fighting it with the air handler.

Bedroom with two windows, concrete floor and a wall mounted mini split

Conditioned Properly, Not Cheaply

A wall mounted mini split handles the whole unit, sized against a well insulated four hundred square feet rather than against a rule of thumb. It is quiet, it is efficient, and it is the reason the place is comfortable in August.

Full bathroom with a tub, marble effect tile and matt black fittings
The accessory dwelling unit seen straight on from the yard

Small Is Not the Same as Compromised

The temptation on a 400 square foot unit is to drop the mechanical spec and call it a shed with a bed in it. This one is properly conditioned and comfortable in every corner, which is the whole difference between an ADU somebody wants to rent and one that sits empty.

Contact Us

Building Something Like This?

A small unit is a real project with real permitting. Tell us about your lot and we will walk you through it.