A circular office fit-out built with the U-Build demountable modular building system

An adaptable office fit-out at London's grade-II listed County Hall

U-Build, by Studio Bark, was chosen by Sustainable Ventures for their fit-out of Sustainable Workspaces, a co-working hub located in London’s iconic County Hall. Overlooking the Thames in Central London, the flexible offices host Europe’s largest community of climate tech start-ups.

Working in partnership with Sustainable Ventures CIC and Material Works Architects, the U-Build team designed and installed removable partitions, phone booths, desks, lockers, and office pods. The system was first installed on the third floor, then reinstalled two years later on the larger fifth floor - proving U-Build’s adaptability for commercial reuse projects.

U-Build has since joined the Sustainable Ventures community, continuing to modify the space to accommodate the needs of incoming businesses.

A Low-Impact Reusable Fit-Out Solution

The U-Build team worked with Material Works on a design that would maximise reusability, with standard U-Build modular boxes used for around 95% of the walls.

For the remaining 5%, a completely new innovation was created: an adjustable U-Build module known as a ‘compression box’. The U-Build compression box tightens against the concrete frame of the building using a flat plate, and turns the assembly into a solid partition, without a single fixing into the building. The adjustable nature of the box serves a second function – to close up small gaps – and can also be fitted with a seal for added acoustic performance.

As the partitions have no fixings, the landlord classified them as furniture, in keeping with the terms of the lease. Other items include desks, storage units, office pods and lockers.

Download the U-Build Commercial Fit-Out Brochure