Say Yes to ADUs! Accessory Dwelling Design Competition

As part of the implementation of the Plus One Home Program and in partnership with RUPCO and Ulster County, the City of Kingston hosted an Accessory Dwelling Unit Design Competition. The purpose of the design competition is to raise visibility around the benefits of ADUs as one way to relieve a Countywide housing shortage and to encourage housing variety/affordability. The design competition also aims to inspire the public with tangible examples of freestanding ADU's they could visualize in their neighborhoods.

The competition included a category for both professional and non-professional entries. An evaluation committee composed of local design professionals reviewed all submissions. Congratulations to the Demo Architecture team! The Demo team is now working on a set of plans that homeowners can use to build an ADU in the City of Kingston.

Professional Category Winner: L'ADU by DEMO Architecture
Professional Category Runner-up: Plus One by Andrade Architecture

Non-Professional Category Winner: Part & Parcel by Rafael Cruz
Non-Professional Category Runner-up: Accessory to Autonomy by Jiahao Zhang & Pai Liu

The winner and runner-up for the professional category are below, followed by all of the submissions. To download the board and narrative for each submission, click on the submission image below or click on the architectural team's name on the right. The non-professional entries can be found further down the page.

Professional Category

Additional Professional Submissions

Non-Professional Category

Additional Non-Professional Submissions

What are ADUs? Why are they important?

The City of Kingston’s newly established Department of Housing Initiatives is dedicated to supporting sound planning, smart growth, and people-first development—essential building blocks of healthy, stable communities. The City believes that accessory dwelling units (ADUs) have a role to play in expanding housing choice and increasing housing affordability. Kingston's new zoning code (adopted August 2023) legalized ADUs citywide.

Accessory Dwelling Units are small, attached or detached dwellings that share the property of a larger, single-family residence. They have become increasingly popular across the Pacific Northwest and California. Many municipalities have programs to encourage property owners to build accessory dwelling units (e.g., see Oakland and Sacramento).

Adoption in New York has been much slower and efforts to legalize ADUs at the state level have stalled. Kingston’s and Ulster County’s experience with building new ADUs could spur greater interest in ADUs as a housing option across New York. This program could show that ADUs could help by expanding housing opportunities for vulnerable populations, including low-income families, seniors, and households on fixed incomes.