Manbey Pod is a self built garden studio located in East London. It is constructed using our revolutionary U-Build construction system. The project, located in Stratford, East London, has been manufactured as a kit of parts and delivered to site. Studio Bark designed the Manybey Pod as a family amenity space, storage area and textile studio.

This is the first time we’ve handed over the U-Build construction to the clients, Peter and Joan. We asked them to keep a diary to chart their progress – titled A U-Builder’s Self-Build Diary and published on our news feed. We hope this can be a valuable resource for future self-builders using the U-Build system for a variety of uses.

Manbey Pod got featured on Evening Standard’s Homes&Property. Read it here.

Architectural Language, Form and Scale

The simple, yet decorative northern facade of the Manbey Pod presents an aesthetically pleasing bookend to the garden. Furthermore, it provides a functional space behind with plenty of natural light. The proportions of the glazing relate to the existing garden layout. It also responds to the attractive Maple tree which sits to the Northeast of the garden. The large fixed window lines up with the existing pathway and the double doors of the main house which sits approximately 15 metres to the North. The textural timber cladding, made from Western Red Cedar creates an interesting and contextual facade. Furthermore, it provides a hint to the creative programme behind.

Studio Bark selected Birch plywood for the internal box faces due to its more uniform appearance when compared to Spruce.

Environmental Design

Further to the innovative low-energy U-Build construction system, natural materials provide a healthy internal air quality, whilst ensuring that the building’s embodied energy requirement is kept to an absolute minimum. The cladding is sourced from UK woodlands and processed by a local sawmill, much reducing the air miles when compared to European / American timber.