ProjectSustainable Workspaces
ClientSustainable Ventures CIC
ArchitectMaterial Works
Modular DesignU-Build
CategoryCommercial, offices
LocationLondon
StatusCompleted
An exemplary low-impact office fit-out of Europe's largest Climate Tech hub, by U-Build, our modular construction system
![An exemplary low-impact office fit-out of Europe's largest Climate Tech hub, by U-Build, our modular construction system](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sanity.io%2Fimages%2Ftrx1fvo3%2Fproduction%2Feb09ec89ad60fef391528d85c8c7ac284e31838d-2000x1333.jpg%3Fw%3D4000%26q%3D80%26auto%3Dformat&w=3840&q=75)
Our modular construction system, U-Build was used by Sustainable Ventures in their fit-out of Sustainable Workspaces at London’s County Hall.
Our team worked with Sustainable Ventures CIC to create removable partitions, phone booths and furniture for their co-working space in Central London, overlooking the Thames, as part of a two phase occupancy. They wanted a solution that they could install immediately on the third floor of the building, and then take with them when they moved upstairs to the larger fifth floor, two years later.
For the second phase of the installation, the partitions were reincorporated into a wider retrofit of the fifth floor by Material Works architects.
The result is a solution that is flexible enough to evolve with the organisation and the start-ups they support. U-Build has also become a member of the Sustainable Ventures community, and has already helped incorporate a number of additions to the design to suit incoming businesses.
![Close up of U-Build timber modular construction blocks](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sanity.io%2Fimages%2Ftrx1fvo3%2Fproduction%2Ffd93ef25dea045bd6b33cc02708e34a725dc3f58-2000x1600.jpg%3Fw%3D2000%26q%3D75%26fit%3Dmax%26auto%3Dformat&w=3840&q=75)
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About U-Build
We created the U-Build system in 2016 with structural engineering from Structure Workshop and testing from Cut and Construct. It was initially designed for Box House, one of our self-build projects, which featured on Grand Designs The Street in 2017.
A genuinely circular fit out
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, which did not break the terms of the lease. The work extended to cover other items, including desks, storage units, office pods and lockers.
The reusable office of the future
Sustainable Workspaces is an exemplar of truly flexible and sustainable office space. Our U-Build modular building system enables a remarkably light-touch fit out, that can be re-configurated and adjusted infinite times without any trace left on the building.
The same modules can be re-used across their lifetime, enabling companies and workspace providers to evolve their space alongside their business needs.
![Sustainable office fit out with U-Build modular construction](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sanity.io%2Fimages%2Ftrx1fvo3%2Fproduction%2F278ff9a1a99fd3687f64785931f813bf5898f1e3-5000x3571.jpg%3Fw%3D2000%26q%3D75%26fit%3Dmax%26auto%3Dformat&w=3840&q=75)
Press
2024 Architecture Today: Sustainable Workspaces
2023 Architects' Journal: Material Works Architecture adapts London County Hall into workplace
2023 Yatzer: A Coworking Space in London Champions the Art of Low-Impact Retrofitting