diff --git a/parquet-variant-compute/src/variant_array_builder.rs b/parquet-variant-compute/src/variant_array_builder.rs
index e669277f1d06..208b169e7dd9 100644
--- a/parquet-variant-compute/src/variant_array_builder.rs
+++ b/parquet-variant-compute/src/variant_array_builder.rs
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 
 //! [`VariantArrayBuilder`] implementation
 
-use crate::VariantArray;
+use crate::{VariantArray, shred_variant};
 use arrow::array::{ArrayRef, BinaryViewArray, BinaryViewBuilder, NullBufferBuilder, StructArray};
 use arrow_schema::{ArrowError, DataType, Field, Fields};
 use parquet_variant::{
@@ -96,9 +96,12 @@ pub struct VariantArrayBuilder {
     value_offsets: Vec<usize>,
     /// The fields of the final `StructArray`
     ///
-    /// TODO: 1) Add extension type metadata
-    /// TODO: 2) Add support for shredding
+    /// TODO: Add extension type metadata
     fields: Fields,
+    /// Optional shredding schema. When set, [`build`](Self::build) returns a
+    /// shredded `VariantArray` produced by [`shred_variant`](crate::shred_variant)
+    /// against this Arrow `DataType` (used as the `typed_value` layout).
+    shredding_schema: Option<DataType>,
 }
 
 impl VariantArrayBuilder {
@@ -114,9 +117,21 @@ impl VariantArrayBuilder {
             value_builder: ValueBuilder::new(),
             value_offsets: Vec::with_capacity(row_capacity),
             fields: Fields::from(vec![metadata_field, value_field]),
+            shredding_schema: None,
         }
     }
 
+    /// Configure this builder to produce a shredded [`VariantArray`].
+    ///
+    /// Rows are still appended in the unshredded form via
+    /// [`append_variant`](Self::append_variant); the shredding pass runs once at
+    /// [`build`](Self::build) time by delegating to
+    /// [`shred_variant`](crate::shred_variant).
+    pub fn with_shredding(mut self, as_type: DataType) -> Self {
+        self.shredding_schema = Some(as_type);
+        self
+    }
+
     /// Build the final builder
     pub fn build(self) -> VariantArray {
         let Self {
@@ -126,6 +141,7 @@ impl VariantArrayBuilder {
             value_builder,
             value_offsets,
             fields,
+            shredding_schema,
         } = self;
 
         let metadata_buffer = metadata_builder.into_inner();
@@ -145,7 +161,11 @@ impl VariantArrayBuilder {
         );
         // TODO add arrow extension type metadata
 
-        VariantArray::try_new(&inner).expect("valid VariantArray by construction")
+        let unshredded = VariantArray::try_new(&inner).expect("valid VariantArray by construction");
+        match shredding_schema {
+            Some(as_type) => shred_variant(&unshredded, &as_type).expect("shred_variant failed"),
+            None => unshredded,
+        }
     }
 
     /// Appends a null row to the builder.
@@ -659,4 +679,32 @@ mod test {
         assert_eq!(array.value(2), array2.value(2).get_list_element(0).unwrap());
         assert_eq!(array.value(2), array2.value(2).get_list_element(1).unwrap());
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn with_shredding_round_trip_primitive_long() {
+        let mut b = VariantArrayBuilder::new(3).with_shredding(DataType::Int64);
+        b.append_variant(Variant::Int64(42));
+        b.append_variant(Variant::Int64(100));
+        b.append_null();
+        let arr = b.build();
+        assert!(
+            arr.typed_value_field().is_some(),
+            "shredded array must have typed_value"
+        );
+        assert_eq!(arr.len(), 3);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn with_shredding_produces_typed_value_column() {
+        let typed = DataType::Struct(vec![Field::new("brand", DataType::Utf8, true)].into());
+        let mut b = VariantArrayBuilder::new(2).with_shredding(typed);
+        b.new_object().with_field("brand", "Apple").finish();
+        b.append_null();
+        let arr = b.build();
+        assert!(
+            arr.typed_value_field().is_some(),
+            "shredded array must have typed_value"
+        );
+        assert_eq!(arr.len(), 2);
+    }
 }