Building with bamboo

“One of the world’s most efficient carbon storage systems.”

“It can now be safely substituted for traditional construction materials.”

It’s time to celebrate trees in the Sid Valley:

Sidmouth Tree Week 2021 – Vision Group for Sidmouth

And perhaps it’s time to reassess how we use trees.

Earlier in the year, 39 Ways to Save the Planet on Radio 4 looked at using wood for building – and using bamboo in particular:

Building with wood – Vision Group for Sidmouth

This week, the Arch Daily website also looked at bamboo in building:

The new Green School Bali gym designed by IBUKU is the largest arched structure in bamboo of its kind in the world and is composed of 18 arches, which are built on the ground using the rup-rup technique. They have bundled 6 Dendrocalamus asper poles to achieve structural integrity according to the design.

How Bamboo Bends to Create Curved Structures | ArchDaily

With further beautiful ideas for this material:

Cladding – Bamboo from House of Bamboo

It’s been taken up by the mainstream:

[The] editor of a themed issue of the ICE Structures and Buildings journal on bamboo, say it can now be safely substituted for traditional construction materials.

Building with bamboo | Institution of Civil Engineers

Moreover, it’s very eco-friendly:

Bamboo’s prodigious growth rate makes the grass a carbon-hungry plant – and one of the world’s most efficient carbon storage systems.

Natural building materials: bamboo

Some American building and construction companies use bamboo exclusively, and in Asia bamboo is often used to build houses and other buildings that can withstand hurricanes if they are constructed properly. Bamboo also has the potential to absorb substantial amounts of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, making it an environmentally-friendly choice.

Another sustainability feature of bamboo is how quickly plantations replenish. It is one of the fastest-growing plants in the world. It can be harvested every three to six years, compared to about twenty-five years for softwoods and fifty years for hardwoods. It brings in money to many poorer parts of the world, and the plantations mean that softwood and hardwood areas can be left alone.

Bamboo in Construction – UK Bamboo Supplies Ltd News

With an excellent piece here from a Costa Rican firm:

Guadua Bamboo vs Teak Plantations — Guadua Bamboo

Finally, with climate change, it looks more and more viable to be planting building-grade bamboo in the UK and the Continent, and beyond…