[stcredzero]

Larry Niven's ships from Known Space are kind of a precursor to the Culture ships. The General Products hull is arguably a kind of "force field" though it's treated more like an indestructible hull, and it can't be reconfigured. Also missing is the Mind and the scale. Niven's Ringworld is also a Banks Orbital predecessor.

[thechao]

As outlined in "Flatlander" the General Products hulls are made of matter (stitched together in an extremely exotic manner).

[stcredzero]

the General Products hulls are made of matter (stitched together in an extremely exotic manner)

IIRC, there's some kind of external power supply maintaining that stitching. But of course, it's been a long time.