Studio Bark to Live-Build House inside ExCeL at Grand Designs Live

Visitors to Grand Designs Live, proudly sponsored by Anglian Home Improvements, will have the chance to watch a live build take place, as they create a home using the U-Build concept as developed by Studio Bark with help from Structure Workshop and Cut and Construct.

​In addition to being able to watch the construction grow each day, attendees can take part in assembling components to be used in the final buildStudio Bark will be asking members of the public to put on Fologram AR headsets to help them imagine the brand’s WISA plywood U-Build stand, in its finished state at Grand Designs Live between 4-12 May in ExCeL London, as a part of National Custom and Self Build week.

The U-Build building process is a revolution in construction, providing a robust and affordable self-build solution, which can be assembled by a small team, as demonstrated in Grand Designs: The Street. The Studio Bark structure at Grand Designs Live is designed to showcase the benefits of self-build. Studio Bark, together with Kevin McCloud and the visitors, will continue making and adding further modular U-Build components onto the stand each day to demonstrate its flexibility and functionality.

In partnership with Fologram, a company that creates augmented reality environments, Studio Bark will allow visitors to see the full potential behind the build, giving them a chance to see the end product of the build in an augmented reality environment, using HoloLens, a AR headset with transparent lenses. Fologram’s software allows users to see their designs in the real world through augmented reality. By using the Microsoft HoloLens, an AR headset with transparent lenses, Studio Bark will explain the advantages of using augmented reality and holographic instructions to help self-build enthusiasts realise their potential within an immersive teaching environment. As an intuitive alternative to complex drawings and instructions, augmented reality allows the user to see digital information in the real world, in this case their building plans and instructions in how to assemble their structure. The system promises to save time and improve the quality of finished construction.

The advantages of the U-Build construction system are numerous; it is easy to build, enjoyable to inhabit, uses natural materials and is simple to deconstruct at the end of its useful life. The system removes many of the difficulties associated with traditional construction, allowing individuals and communities to construct their own homes and buildings, with little or no construction experience, using simple hand tools. The system also allows for certainty of cost in terms of material and quantity, as well as a high degree of flexibility and adaptability in design.

The system uses precision CNC machining to create a kit of parts, offsite from a build, thus reducing waste on site, and allowing waste timber produced from manufacture an easy transfer to a specialist recycling facility (as opposed to timber waste on build site, which is often contaminated). For the exhibition installation, Studio Bark will be using WISA-Birch and WISA-Spruce plywood supplied by UPM Plywood, showcasing their “Biofore – Beyond Fossils” approach to sustainable materials.

Visitors can see the Live Build take place from 4 – 12 May 2019 at Grand Designs Live at London’s ExCeL.