diff --git a/vortex-serde/src/layouts/reader/builder.rs b/vortex-serde/src/layouts/reader/builder.rs
index e1a7af5a42..f12f173dec 100644
--- a/vortex-serde/src/layouts/reader/builder.rs
+++ b/vortex-serde/src/layouts/reader/builder.rs
@@ -75,6 +75,11 @@ impl<R: VortexReadAt> VortexLayoutReaderBuilder<R> {
         let projection = self.projection.unwrap_or_default();
         let batch_size = self.batch_size.unwrap_or(DEFAULT_BATCH_SIZE);
 
+        let projected_dtype = match &projection {
+            Projection::All => footer.dtype()?,
+            Projection::Partial(projection) => footer.projected_dtype(projection)?,
+        };
+
         let scan = Scan {
             projection,
             indices: self.indices,
@@ -83,11 +88,12 @@ impl<R: VortexReadAt> VortexLayoutReaderBuilder<R> {
         };
 
         let message_cache = Arc::new(RwLock::new(LayoutMessageCache::default()));
-        let layouts_cache = RelativeLayoutCache::new(message_cache.clone(), footer.dtype()?);
+        let layouts_cache =
+            RelativeLayoutCache::new(message_cache.clone(), projected_dtype.clone());
 
         let layout = footer.layout(scan.clone(), layouts_cache)?;
 
-        VortexLayoutBatchStream::try_new(self.reader, layout, message_cache, footer.dtype()?, scan)
+        VortexLayoutBatchStream::try_new(self.reader, layout, message_cache, projected_dtype, scan)
     }
 
     async fn len(&self) -> usize {
diff --git a/vortex-serde/src/layouts/reader/footer.rs b/vortex-serde/src/layouts/reader/footer.rs
index 1c0cf26b43..8998209ea0 100644
--- a/vortex-serde/src/layouts/reader/footer.rs
+++ b/vortex-serde/src/layouts/reader/footer.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
+use std::sync::Arc;
+
 use bytes::Bytes;
 use flatbuffers::root;
-use vortex_dtype::DType;
-use vortex_error::VortexResult;
+use vortex_dtype::{DType, StructDType};
+use vortex_error::{vortex_err, VortexResult};
+use vortex_flatbuffers::dtype::Struct_;
 use vortex_flatbuffers::ReadFlatBuffer;
 
 use crate::layouts::reader::context::LayoutDeserializer;
@@ -54,4 +57,40 @@ impl Footer {
                 .0,
         )
     }
+
+    pub fn projected_dtype(&self, projection: &[usize]) -> VortexResult<DType> {
+        let start_offset = self.leftovers_schema_offset();
+        let end_offset = self.leftovers_footer_offset();
+        let dtype_bytes = &self.leftovers[start_offset..end_offset];
+
+        let fb_schema = root::<vortex_flatbuffers::message::Schema>(dtype_bytes)?;
+        let fb_dtype = fb_schema
+            .dtype()
+            .ok_or_else(|| vortex_err!(InvalidSerde: "Schema missing DType"))?;
+
+        let fb_struct = fb_dtype
+            .type__as_struct_()
+            .expect("The top-level type should be a struct");
+        let nullability = fb_struct.nullable().into();
+
+        let (names, dtypes): (Vec<Arc<str>>, Vec<DType>) = projection
+            .iter()
+            .map(|idx| Self::read_field(fb_struct, *idx))
+            .collect::<VortexResult<Vec<_>>>()?
+            .into_iter()
+            .unzip();
+
+        Ok(DType::Struct(
+            StructDType::new(names.into(), dtypes),
+            nullability,
+        ))
+    }
+
+    fn read_field(fb_struct: Struct_, idx: usize) -> VortexResult<(Arc<str>, DType)> {
+        let name = fb_struct.names().unwrap().get(idx);
+        let fb_dtype = fb_struct.dtypes().unwrap().get(idx);
+        let dtype = DType::try_from(fb_dtype)?;
+
+        Ok((name.into(), dtype))
+    }
 }
diff --git a/vortex-serde/src/layouts/reader/layouts.rs b/vortex-serde/src/layouts/reader/layouts.rs
index 80554ed9b6..468b8fca0b 100644
--- a/vortex-serde/src/layouts/reader/layouts.rs
+++ b/vortex-serde/src/layouts/reader/layouts.rs
@@ -156,10 +156,10 @@ impl ColumnLayout {
         &self,
         idx: usize,
         children: Vector<ForwardsUOffset<fb::Layout>>,
-        st_dtype: &Arc<[DType]>,
+        dtype: DType,
     ) -> VortexResult<Box<dyn Layout>> {
         let layout = children.get(idx);
-        let dtype = st_dtype[idx].clone();
+
         // TODO: Figure out complex nested schema projections
         let mut child_scan = self.scan.clone();
         child_scan.projection = Projection::All;
@@ -185,11 +185,18 @@ impl Layout for ColumnLayout {
 
                 let column_layouts = match self.scan.projection {
                     Projection::All => (0..fb_children.len())
-                        .map(|idx| self.read_child(idx, fb_children, s.dtypes()))
+                        .map(|idx| self.read_child(idx, fb_children, s.dtypes()[idx].clone()))
                         .collect::<VortexResult<Vec<_>>>()?,
                     Projection::Partial(ref v) => v
                         .iter()
-                        .map(|&idx| self.read_child(idx, fb_children, s.dtypes()))
+                        .enumerate()
+                        .map(|(position, &projection_idx)| {
+                            self.read_child(
+                                projection_idx,
+                                fb_children,
+                                s.dtypes()[position].clone(),
+                            )
+                        })
                         .collect::<VortexResult<Vec<_>>>()?,
                 };