Small & Smart Design Challenge
The North Adams Partnership, with support from AARP’s Community Challenge Grant, is excited to launch the Small & Smart ADU Design Challenge. This initiative invites residents, students, designers, builders, and creative enthusiasts, especially those from North Adams, to submit innovative, feasible designs for Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) that enable age-friendly living.
ADUs—whether basement apartments, backyard cottages, or attached additions—offer affordable, flexible housing solutions rooted in existing neighborhoods. Recent Massachusetts policy changes now allow homeowners to build ADUs by right on single-family lots, removing zoning barriers and opening new pathways for aging in place and intergenerational living.
Submissions will be evaluated based on:
Universal Design principles (30%): ADU designs should prioritize accessibility, inclusivity, and adaptability, supporting flexible living and enabling residents to age in place.
Cost Effectiveness (30%): Submissions should be economically viable, factoring in construction, maintenance, and operating costs. We seek inventive, cost-effective designs that minimize expenses and promote long-term affordability.
Sustainability & Resilience (25%): Energy efficiency, sustainable materials, water conservation, resilience to hazards, and adaptability for future technologies.
Innovation & Aesthetics (15%): Space-smart, visually appealing designs that complement North Adams’s historic character.
A selection committee that will include planners, financial partners, and local residents will review entries, with winners announced on October 29. Winning submissions will be commissioned and made publicly available at no cost, empowering homeowners to build ADUs and help diversify the city’s housing landscape.
With 38% of North Adams residents aged 55 or older and a pre-1940 housing stock offering limited right-sized options, the ADU Design Challenge represents an opportunity to reimagine how our community accommodates aging and accessibility while preserving neighborhood character.
“By making ADU designs accessible and practical, we’re helping residents take the first step in imagining new housing possibilities that strengthen the community, support aging in place, and honor the unique character of North Adams,” said Jenny Wright, Executive Director of the North Adams Partnership. “This challenge is about bringing the community together to help solve a real need in North Adams. The process for designing and building housing is complex and expensive—if it were easy and affordable, everyone would be doing it. Together, we can figure it out.”
Learn more and submit at: northadamsadu.org
About the North Adams Partnership:
The North Adams Partnership is a coalition of community and business leaders focused on achieving the economic development and housing goals identified in the North Adams Vision 2030 plan.
About AARP Community Challenge:
Since its debut in 2017, the AARP Community Challenge has invested $24.3 million in 2,100 livability projects throughout the nation, with a focus on meeting the needs of adults age 50 or older.
