Designing Timber issue 10 for online - Flipbook - Page 49
———— U-BUILD: THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX ————
wool, some of them with felt
lining.”
“The Renold Building is large,
but we’ve been working on
it in sections," Ben says.
"We also have been working
with a local company
called Touchwood, who we
are training so that they
can carry out most of the
installation.”
The 昀椀rst batch of U-Build
components for the project
was cut in Manchester by a
local CNC company there.
This is one advantage of the
system: all the 昀椀les are digital
so U-Build speci昀椀cations can
be sent across the world, to
any supplier who has CNC
machinery.
“The next batch has been cut
in London and will be shipped
up north, simply because we
have hired a CNC facility as
we’ve taken on more internal
work. But a project could be on
the other side of the world: we
can send 昀椀les and a schedule
of parts and everything can
be cut locally. We are keen
to establish and promote a
global distribution network
of makers and suppliers for
U-Build.”
Di昀昀erent materials for
di昀昀erent circumstances
The system allows for
creative adaptation of
materials in response to any
supply challenges.
“We were previously dealing
with a Dutch felt supplier who
ceased trading, but we were
able to switch to cork tiles,
supplied from Portugal. They
look great and improve the
acoustics.”
↑
Nest House, cosy
and complete; © Jim
Generally the system
Stephenson.
uses either spruce or; both
Sustainable Ventures projects
use birch.
“Birch is a bit harder and
heavier and has cleaner faces.
It’s easy to sand and 昀椀nish as
well, just because it’s a little
smoother. There were supply
chain issues for birch plywood,
so we ended up buying quite a
signi昀椀cant amount and keeping
stock of it where we could."
U-Build has in the past used
OSB.
"OSB is a great material,
but it’s not as strong and,
on the CNC machine, it can
move around a little as it’s not
completely 昀氀at."
A balance of readymade
and bespoke
For the actual box system
itself, 95% is standardized
in these interiors projects. It
is designed to minimize the
skill level of the work that’s
required: most people can put
DESIGNING TIMBER
49
NOV/DEC 2025
it together; build the boxes and
install.
"We will still work with
carpenters and other trades
on site where necessary: while
everything is cut to size for a
particular space, occasionally
some parts might need scribing
in on site. Occasionally there’ll
be irregularities: some of the
walls in County Hall are curved,
which required adjustments with
a jigsaw and handheld tools.
With larger projects, it’s always
bene昀椀cial for one of us to be on
site to guide things.”
"And then there are projects in
which we’ve done the cladding, for
example: that always needs to be
cut to size on site. Perhaps there’s
a visual aspect to it: it might
perhaps not look quite right in a
particular pattern."
The MEP (mechanical, electrical
and plumbing) is easy to install
into a U-Build system.
“We can provide the 昀椀rst 昀椀x, or
an electrician will come in – and
we can also send them diagrams.
UNDERSTANDING
A digitial design that
can be sent anywhere
