East Street Arts – 34 Boar Lane

U-Build is made for building communities, and suitable for projects of a larger scale. If you are a community group interested in building your own project, then why not use the system to personalise and take full control of how your spaces are made. Community build projects often struggle to build their own projects without the help of a contractor, as they may not have the traditional skills in house to lay bricks or put up timber frames. And even if some members of the community are skilled, others may not be.

U-Build is an inclusive approach to building, which enables almost every member of the community to participate in some way. Whether building boxes, tightening bolts or putting in insulation, there are jobs for everyone to take part in.  U-Build breaks down the construction process into a series of simple assembly steps, and spread amongst a large number of people. Instead of hiring a dedicated labour team, why not arrange a community build event, where all members of your community can come and lend a hand to build your local project. Not only does this save time and cost, it is also quite literally a ‘team building’ experience, enabling everyone to come away with a sense of satisfaction and ownership.

We can provide experienced facilitators to run these events, provide all the materials and document the process for you with a time lapse film and photography.

More information on the featured project

Boar Lane Studios is a pop-up arts space in Leeds City Centre. The project was the result of a collaboration between LJ Real Estate and East Street Arts, an arts organisation and leading provider of artist workspaces. The ground floor retrofit of the old tool emporium was carried out using U-Build in collaboration with Studio Bark.

U-Build were asked to assist the local artists and makers with the self build of five internal pods. At the beginning of the two days East Street Art’s prospective residents were briefed on how the flat-pack system worked. They were then each tasked with building their own spaces, guided by our facilitators. The build process was an early test of the system’s buildability – many thanks go to the artists and makers who put in all the hard work and made the process so enjoyable! The smooth two day build culminated in a party to celebrate the opening of the building to the public.

Client Testimonial

“We were looking to create a flexible, temporary work space for local artists in Leeds, and needed private studios that could be built quickly and taken down/moved to another location just as easily. Studio Bark offered the perfect solution to this; flat packed pods that are simple enough for anyone to build, and adaptable in their shapes and sizes. Armed with a team from the local community, Wilf, Nick and Steph led the way in helping us build five U-Build pods in just two days, and taught us valuable ‘skills with drills’ along the way!” Isabelle Roberts, LJ Partnership