The Inverted Shed

The Inverted Shed is a community center for the Leimert Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. The project re-imagines the vernacular LA industrial shed as a two-level level structure. The typical solid walls around the perimeter of the shed are inverted to the inside as a number of cores. These cores support a two-way vierendeel truss structure that houses the cellular programmatic elements, such as classrooms while leaving the ground level open to the street. Light wells punched through the second level mass conceal structure while illuminating the ground level. The resulting community center is open and approachable, providing ranges of public to intimate spaces.