Being small and utilitarian doesn’t mean a shed can’t be pretty. For designers and builders, creating something simple can provide an opportunity to convey the essence of their firm’s aesthetic or material philosophy. For example, the Martha’s Vineyard shack shown here was composed from leftovers, except for little stained glass windows made by a local artist. Recycling scraps is what South Mountain Co. does on a regular basis with their bigger buildings as well. Another little building, a stylish garden shed, begat a new company that focuses on cool yet small additions, while service spaces for another architect’s own home were inspired by personal and professional beginnings.
Second Chance The South Mountain design team got together to create something “sweet but not saccharin, whimsical but classy, unusual but graceful, and soulful but not unapproachable,” or so says the mission statement of this shed/work shack. The fact that the building has a mission statement shows the thought that went into it. Perched on water’s edge, the wave of the windows (framed with wood from old beer tanks) fits a seafaring motif. Blueberry branches adorn the door as a handle and serve as hooks inside. The self-sustaining shed’s light is powered by a solar panel set in the roof. If the playwright/ owner needs a little inspiration, she can look up and scan past discarded Vineyard Gazette printing plates recycled as roofing tiles.
Builder/designer: South Mountain Co., Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.; Photographer: Brian Vanden Brink.
Yard Work Architect Joseph Augustine was starting a new firm and a new family, and needed a workshop plus a garden shed. He wanted something that would showcase his design aesthetic and attention to detail to future clients. He decided on two buildings situated side by side next to a stream on the edge of his property. The buildings share the same footings, but there’s about a 4-foot gap between to create a path down to the water. Mirror-image sliding barn doors allow him to easily maneuver long pieces of wood in and out of the workshop. The double doors span half the width of each shed, so light and air can flow freely when they’re open. A standing-seam metal roof extends over those doorways for extra protection, but “also to create a detail emphasizing the door.” Augustine’s architectural bent is reflected in the buildings’ clean lines and sharp roof pitch, while the cedar board-and-batten cladding evokes rural Pennsylvania’s agricultural roots.
Builder/architect: jfa architecture, Wyncote, Pa.; Photographer: Courtesy jfa architecture.
Long House This is the garden shed that launched a design/build company. “The shed was the result of a conversation between my wife and [co-founder J. Hugo] about how could we bring good design to everyday projects that don’t get the attention they deserve,” says Scott Ukrop, one of the founders of four-year-old Grace Street Home Additions. Designed to complement Ukrop’s eclectic old farmhouse, the bike and tool shed runs along the side yard to shield outdoor activities from close neighbors. “The idea was a wall with a fence coming out of either end,” Ukrop says. The shed’s horizontal lap siding blends with fence planks that indeed appear to flow out of the structure. Side walls that extend past double doors on either end of the shed screen trash and recycle bins.
Builder/designer: Grace Street Home Additions, Richmond, Va.; Photographers: Scott Ukrop; Lee Brauer.
