Workshop/ ADU:
Concrete, crushed granite, limestone, steel, rebar, wire mesh, Douglas fir, OSB, CDX plywood, reclaimed fir shoring, dimensional lumber, bonderized steel, galvalume steel, aluminum, glass, copper, PVC, PEX, polyethylene, fiberglass, polyisocyanurate, expanded polystyrene (EPS), cedar, glulam, asphalt, acrylic paint, caulk, spray foam, ratchet straps.
photos by adam berton
designed with realarchitecture ltd.
Workshop/ ADU is a 420-square-foot workshop designed for future conversion into an accessory dwelling unit (ADU). Its material palette is composed of new, surplus, and salvaged components gathered through local construction networks over several years. The structure incorporates retired douglas fir shoring timbers as rafters, reclaimed commercial windows from a local hotel project, a reclaimed entry door from a townhome development, salvaged fiberglass insulation from the, excess rigid insulation, reclaimed glulam beams, reused cedar fencing, relocated landscape plantings, and a garage door assembled almost entirely from recovered tracks, springs, rollers, and hardware. Offcuts of corrugated steel cladding, surplus framing lumber, and ratchet straps were transformed into a bespoke shelving system, extending the life of materials that would otherwise have entered the waste stream.
These materials remain connected to much larger extraction and labor economies. Concrete batched in Commerce City combines Front Range granite aggregate with cement derived from quarried limestone; Douglas fir framing originated from forests in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, British Columbia, and Alberta; steel products trace back to iron ore, zinc, and bauxite mined throughout Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, and the United States before being refined, coated, transported, and roll-formed into construction products. Plastics, including PVC, PEX, Tyvek, insulation foams, sealants, and adhesives, originate from petroleum extracted and refined through Gulf Coast, Canadian, and Middle Eastern petrochemical networks. Copper and aluminum electrical systems depend upon global mining and smelting industries spanning Chile, Peru, Guinea, Australia, Canada, and beyond. The project acknowledges not only the landscapes transformed through extraction, but also the quarry workers, foresters, mill operators, refinery workers, fabricators, truck drivers, warehouse employees, tradespeople, demolition crews, and construction workers whose labor is embedded within every component.
The Workshop/ADU is designed to extend the useful life of both materials and the building itself. A monopoly framing system leaves the rafters and roof sheathing exposed, reducing finish materials while expressing the structure directly. Continuous exterior insulation and externally fastened rafter tails create a thin roof profile that maximizes thermal performance without increasing visual mass. The exterior is clad in 7/8-inch bonderized corrugated steel, a material with a high embodied carbon footprint that was selected for its exceptional durability, material charecter to weather naturally over time, ease of disassembly, and near-complete recyclability at the end of its service life. Although it currently functions as a workshop—with integrated workbench space, bicycle parking, gear storage, and custom shelving—the building was intentionally constructed with water supply and sanitary sewer connections so it can be converted into an ADU with minimal future intervention. Its height carefully maximizes the site's zoning envelope while preserving sunlight and views for neighboring carriage-house windows, allowing space for a future sleeping loft and anticipating a denser, more adaptable urban fabric.