Enter the Massachusetts ADU Design Challenge

About the ADU Design Challenge

Accessory dwelling units — or ADUs — are one of the simplest, most cost-effective ways to create new housing in existing neighborhoods. But for many homeowners, the biggest barrier is getting started.

The ADU Design Challenge invites Massachusetts architects, builders, designers, contractors, and design-build teams practicing in the State of Massachusetts to help solve that problem by creating high-quality, ready-to-use ADU plans. The winning designs will be made publicly available, allowing property owners to find professional floor plans, bring them to a trusted builder, and more easily move forward with construction.

This initiative is about reducing the cost and complexity of building small homes — and showing how good design can make housing more accessible, sustainable, and achievable across the Commonwealth.

Following the challenge, the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities will produce:

• Ready-to-use ADU floor plans and elevations available to the public
• A design guidebook featuring winning designs and standout submissions
• Mass.gov resources that explain how to choose, adapt and permit ADUs

ADU Design Challenge guidelines

All interested challenge participants should review the guidelines in their entirety to be ready to enter the challenge with complete design submissions. Applicants may select their preferred site plan contextualization format (DWG or PDF) for design editing to download below. Both files contain identical content and differ only in format.

Related documents:

• ADU Design Challenge submission guidelines
• Submission agreements
• Sample ADU Design Challenge Application Form
• Site plan contextualization DWG Format
• Site Plan contextualization PDF Format

Who should participate

• Architects, builders, designers, contractors and design-build teams
• Multidisciplinary teams with accessibility, energy, and construction expertise
• Eligible participants from every region of Massachusetts are encouraged to apply

Prizes and recognition

The ADU Design Challenge will award a total of $60,000 spread across award categories thanks to generous private funds made available to the challenge. In addition to these awards, winning designs and standout submissions will be promoted on mass.gov/ADU and mass.gov/ADUchallenge, in the design guidebook, and at high-profile sponsored public events. Monetary awards will be given to the following winners:

• All-Challenge 1st Place: $20,000
• All-Challenge 2nd Place: $15,000
• All-Challenge 3rd Place: $10,000
• Category Awards: $3,000 each:
  • Exceptional compact ADU
  • Exceptional standard ADU
  • Exceptional sustainable ADU
  • Exceptional accessible ADU
  • Exceptional innovative construction

Sponsorship note: The ADU Design Challenge is funded solely from private and not public dollars. Thank you to our fundraising sponsors (listed alphabetically), AIA Massachusetts, Eastern Bank Foundation, Massachusetts Housing Partnership, The Boston Foundation who graciously stepped up to support the Massachusetts ADU Design Challenge.

Key dates

What to submit (at a glance)

Full requirements are on the submission form and on the ADU Design Challenge Guidelines. Expect to provide:

• Plan set: Design board, floor plans, elevations, wall section, renderings at publishable quality
• Summary sheet: Footprint, unit layout, height, gross square footage, and other design metrics
• Project Narrative: How your design meets the goals of the challenge and scoring criteria
• Rights and licensing waiver: Permission for the commonwealth to publish and share plans

Basic rules and eligibility

Please review the ADU Design Challenge Guidelines for all rules and eligibility criteria.

• Open to individuals and teams; lead entrant must be 18 or older
• Original work free of third-party restrictions
• Winners grant the Commonwealth non-exclusive rights to publish, adapt and distribute plans for public use
• Designs should align with applicable state building codes. 

Webinars

HLC is hosting two ADU Design Challenge webinars to review submission requirements and answer any questions. Both webinars will cover the same material. The webinars will be held on the following dates and can be joined from the links below:

• Register for Friday, Dec. 19, from noon to 1 p.m.
• Register for Thursday, Jan. 15, from 6 to 7 p.m.

Both webinars will be pre-recorded and uploaded to this website following the event.

Answers to Frequently Asked Questions have been prepared for informational purposes. For additional questions on the ADU Design Challenge, please e-mail EOHLCADUHOMES@mass.gov with the subject line “ADU Design Challenge Question".