The Red Shed / Social Studies Projects

Architects: Social Studies Projects
Area: 180 ft²
Year: 2020
Photographs: Leela Cyd
Manufacturers: Fermob, dweLED
Landscape Design: Katy Valentin
Creative Director: Mary Casper
Project Leader: Mary Casper
Client: Electric Avenue, an electric car garage
Fabrication: Tortoise Industries
City: Los Angeles
Country: United States

The Red Shed, designed by Social Studies Projects (SSP), is a freestanding pavilion at the Electric Car Garage, intended as a waiting room for clients and a lunchroom for mechanics. Inspired by greenhouse designs, SSP created a red steel framework clad in twin-wall polycarbonate panels that keep the interior bright while softly obscuring views of the parking lot. Open clerestories enhance natural ventilation. Inside, SSP designed custom tables, benches, and cabinets in coral and goldenrod to match the pavilion’s red structure. The design uses simple materials like steel and polycarbonate to create a shaded social area that offers a light and airy ambiance, with jasmine plantings around the pavilion enhancing its greenhouse-like atmosphere. The concept draws from mid-century industrial architecture, aiming to make the space not just a functional room but a neighborhood hangout.

The owners of the Electric Car Garage commissioned Social Studies Projects (SSP) to design a freestanding pavilion that would serve as both a waiting room for clients and a lunchroom for mechanics. Drawing inspiration from greenhouse structures, SSP developed a simple pavilion with a red steel framework clad in twin-wall polycarbonate panels, which maintain a bright interior while gently screening the surrounding parking lot. Open clerestories allow for natural ventilation, enhancing the pavilion’s comfort. To match the pavilion’s signature red, SSP designed custom interior furnishings, including tables, benches, and cabinets powder-coated in coral and goldenrod.

Using basic materials like steel and polycarbonate, SSP aimed to create a shaded social space for clients and mechanics to gather. The choice of materials and colors was crucial to achieving the desired oasis-like effect. The pavilion’s wall framing was designed with open clerestories to allow cross-ventilation, making it suitable for Los Angeles’ warm climate. Inside, the structure effectively obscures the view of the surrounding cars in the garage, with the twin-wall polycarbonate panels softening the appearance of vehicles waiting for service, giving the interior a light and airy atmosphere.

The main building is painted red to align with the company’s brand color, while the other colors used are sun-bleached versions of the original hue. The polycarbonate panels obscure the view of the cars, creating a blurred effect that gives the illusion of speed. Moreover, the client planted jasmine around the structure, and further planting was added later, enhancing the pavilion’s atmosphere by creating the impression of an inside-out greenhouse.

The design concept for The Red Shed drew inspiration from the simplicity of ordinary greenhouses and the industrial, structurally expressive architecture of the mid-century era. The buildout made use of powder-coated steel for both the structure and the furnishings. The space was designed to serve as more than just a waiting room and lunchroom for an auto garage; it was envisioned as a community hangout, offering a welcoming and functional environment that blends utility with a relaxed, social atmosphere.