Spring 2021 Issue - 79

visual space of the house. Excluding the ADU space, the visual
living space is 48 by 32 feet (15 by
10 m), which is more than 1,500
square feet (140 sq m). Moreover,
light can stream into that space
through 48 linear feet (15 m) of
sliding glass doors. An equivalent
multifamily apartment would likely
have only eight-foot (2.4 m) sliding

glass doors overlooking a shallow six-foot-wide
(1.8 m) balcony appended to the
edge of the living room. Instead,
the atrium and great room function
together as an indoor/outdoor
living room.
l Multifunctionality. The pandemic
has created premiums for homes
that also can serve as a workplace,

school, daycare
facility, gym, workshop,
maker space, storeroom, restaurant, and garage. With the closure
of multiple service facilities and a
decrease in public transit ridership,
there is a demand for the mixed-use

Half the exterior
walls are structurally
independent, back-toback insulated warm
walls and do not need
exterior siding. Adjacent
houses are designed
so that kitchens and
bathrooms are back-toback, shortening water,
sewer, and electricity
lines.

M A C H T & C O M PA N Y

ration without requiring residents
to move through indoor common
areas. Unlike SFD houses, they
also provide complete visual privacy. Because sounds emitted in
the outdoor courtyard are buffered
by the mass of the surrounding
house, courtyard houses provide
a considerable measure of aural
privacy, too.
l Security. Because the outdoor
courtyard is completely enclosed,
passersby cannot see internal
activity-or inactivity-or access
quasi-common areas typical of SFDs
like porches or front lawns. Children
can play in the atrium with security
yet be visible to parents through the
surrounding glass walls. Windows
and doors need not be locked, so
they can be opened to obtain natural ventilation securely. Secure unattended package delivery is made
via controlled-entry courts gated at
each end.
l Accessibility. Because atrium
quads are one story, they are
accessible to those with impaired
mobility or at increased risk of
falling. Developers and brokers
have been able to earn average
price premiums of 10 percent for
single-level homes, according to a
study by the Sacramento office of
John Burns Real Estate Consulting.
l Spaciousness. Atrium quads can
be more spacious than alternatives
because the outdoor courtyard is
usable and incorporated within the

SPRING 2021

Macht_SP21.indd 79

DA N I E L E D D I E

Atrium quads yield
identical density to 25-footwide (7.6 m), two-story townhouses
on the same block. Yet the atrium quads not only
produce larger and more spacious, efficient, accessible, and
private units at only a single story, but also provide two private garage
spaces per unit plus 36 on-street spaces for ADU residents and guests.

U R B A N LA N D

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3/31/21 4:49 PM

UL
Spring 2021 Issue

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Spring 2021 Issue
