Shed of the Week: In Kansas, an Architect’s Modern Home Studio
This backyard outbuilding used for work is designed for privacy, comfort and utility
Architect Chris Fein has found sanctuary in a 10-by-12-foot shed in his backyard. “When you go out there, it’s like another world,” he says. Fein built the structure as an office for his burgeoning architecture firm, which has since outgrown the space. He now retreats to it to prepare for classes he teaches at Kansas State’s architecture school.
The shed’s design then became a study in economy. “It was generally an exercise in how cheaply we could build that space,” he says. Codes dictated the shed could be no larger than 10 by 12 feet, and Fein kept the roof slope as slight as possible. Choosing a simple rectangular shape and locating the door and window on the same wall also kept the cost down. “The overall form and shape were really dictated by budget,” Fein says.
For the exterior finishing, Fein used a budget-friendly Hardie cement board siding and added vertical cedar battens to create the illusion of wooden board and batten siding.
For the exterior finishing, Fein used a budget-friendly Hardie cement board siding and added vertical cedar battens to create the illusion of wooden board and batten siding.
The shed’s bright orange front is another budget-friendly detail that guides visitors to its entry. Inside the main house, seen in the foreground here, all the doors are painted the same orange as a way to tie the two structures together. But Fein also “tried to contrast [the shed] with the house so that you understand it’s a distinct free-standing folly.”
Orange paint: Daredevil, Sherwin-Williams
Orange paint: Daredevil, Sherwin-Williams
The office space is simple but not sparse, accommodating a comfortable workstation for one and storing Fein’s extensive library of architecture and design books. He designed the interior around his collection of George Nelson Omni shelving, accumulated over the years. The desk, which he designed, locks into the shelves.
Seven-foot-tall walls house the bookcases and give the shed an intimate feeling. “That was an attempt on my part to keep the scale down,” he says, to tie it in with the house and backyard.
The room has a cork floor, laid on top of a slab-on-grade foundation. “We love cork floors, because they’re affordable, they wear well and you can put them on a slab,” Fein says.
Desk chair: Maarten Van Severen for Vitra; light blue desk chair: Eero Saarinen for Knoll
Seven-foot-tall walls house the bookcases and give the shed an intimate feeling. “That was an attempt on my part to keep the scale down,” he says, to tie it in with the house and backyard.
The room has a cork floor, laid on top of a slab-on-grade foundation. “We love cork floors, because they’re affordable, they wear well and you can put them on a slab,” Fein says.
Desk chair: Maarten Van Severen for Vitra; light blue desk chair: Eero Saarinen for Knoll
The shed sits in the rear corner of the yard, with its own entrance from the street. It’s close to the fence, 2 feet from the property line, which is the closest permitted by local building regulations. A 15-foot-long, 6-foot-tall wall projects off the front of the shed, screening the shed’s entrance from the next-door neighbors’ backyard.
The studio opens up to a view of a backyard magnolia tree.
Fein’s architecture firm, now with two additional full-time employees, has been in its new office space for about six months. The studio has become Fein’s personal retreat. He’s made some mechanical improvements since building it, including adding a new mini split for heating and cooling. Though these upgrades have put the shed’s overall cost at about $18,000, roughly twice his estimate for the basement conversion, the studio is inviting and remains at a comfortable temperature year-round. It was “well worth the expense,” he says.
Side chair: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for Knoll; stool: Isamu Noguchi for Vitra
More: How to Add a Backyard Shed for Storage or Living
Fein’s architecture firm, now with two additional full-time employees, has been in its new office space for about six months. The studio has become Fein’s personal retreat. He’s made some mechanical improvements since building it, including adding a new mini split for heating and cooling. Though these upgrades have put the shed’s overall cost at about $18,000, roughly twice his estimate for the basement conversion, the studio is inviting and remains at a comfortable temperature year-round. It was “well worth the expense,” he says.
Side chair: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for Knoll; stool: Isamu Noguchi for Vitra
More: How to Add a Backyard Shed for Storage or Living
Shed at a Glance
Location: Prairie Village, Kansas (near Kansas City)
Size: 120 square feet (11.1 square meters); 10 by 12 feet (3 by 3.6 meters)
Designer: Christopher Fein of Forward Design/Architecture
When Fein opened his firm about three years ago, he deliberated about where to locate the office in his house. Without any bedrooms to spare, he looked to his family’s unfinished basement as a potential workspace. Fein soon realized that finishing the basement wouldn’t be a minor construction project, so he started formulating ideas — and running the numbers — for a backyard shed. At the time, Fein was the firm’s only employee, but he anticipated adding help.
He calculated that building a free-standing studio would cost more than a basement conversion, but the freedom it would provide, along with the framed garden view and natural light, proved alluring. “People love the idea of escaping their house to work while still being at home,” he says. “That’s exactly why I like it.”