Hailing from Austin, TX, back in the day of the Public Interest Design-Build Summer Studio Bea attended at the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture, the project idea appears fresh and timeless it deserves a mention. Its execution and materiality are also formative to our studio culture. 

SHED [+] is an urban yard rejuvenation system that aims to promote neighborhood safety, sense of home ownership, and quality of life of the residents of Austin’s Guadalupe Neighborhood. The core component is the storage shed, built on mostly underutilized yard & integrated with a variety of customizable, need-based add-ons such as chicken coop, vegetable beds, clotheslines, or backyard barbecue unit. This prototype includes a storage shed + a small chicken coop for Roland, a neighborhood painter, and his two domestic chicken.

The main construction material consists of old wooden shipping pallets collected from Austin’s neighborhoods, constructed into panels and sheathed with custom sanded acrylic sideboards. The milky white, translucent aesthetics of the shed is in sharp contrast to the charred wooden pallets of the chicken coop add-on. When lit up at night, the structure becomes a glowing beacon that helps increase neighborhood safety.

Host:  Design Corps + The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture & Center for Sustainable Development Public Interest Design [PID] Program
Collaborators: Danica Adams, Emily McMillan, Chris Murton, Annie Palone, Natalie Thomas
Special thanks to: Roland the Painter of the Guadalupe Neighborhood and his chicken