“Uravu Bamboo Grove” is an eco-friendly community tourism project located on the

elevated and picturesque mountain plateau of Wayanad, Kerala, southern India. Situated
just outside the peaceful Thrikkaipetta Bamboo Village and surrounded by rice fields, the
stunning Uravu Bamboo Grove encircles a beautiful pond and a bamboo grove.
The main objective of the Uravu Eco Links tourism project is to develop and run a
sustainable, eco-friendly tourism venture by involving and benefitting the local community.
The villagers are taking part in the management of the project, which features innovative
building designs based on latest environmental standards, locally sourced materials and
include the ideas of local artisans. These homespun designs have been paired with local
knowledge of sustainable construction and an enthusiastic team of international and local
experts in the areas of architecture and design, engineering, innovative water and energy
management, tourism and craft.

With climate change and other crises upon us, it’s time to consider mud and bamboo architecture more
seriously.

Let us take a quick quiz.

What are the building materials employed during the early days of human settlements? Mud, wood, stone
and bamboo.

What could be the most ancient design approach still in use today? Mud architecture.

Which material offers the most sustainable future? Bamboo. Which construction techniques are the easiest
to learn? Mud and bamboo.

In these days of cement and steel, the two celebrated construction materials dominating construction all
over the world, this quiz may sound sceptical. Contributing to around 15% of direct Green House Gas
emissions, cement and steel are not the heroes of world of construction, but the villains of world
destruction. Strange but true.

In 50 years, the construction industry in India saw a paradigm shift from its 5,000 years of history. Now
with climate change and relatable crisis like corona pandemic, it’s time for a game changer. It’s time to
consider mud and bamboo architecture more seriously.

Expertise counts while on the job.  

Mud or soil is not very durable if used directly as was done in the past for they shrink, crack and erode in
rain. With additives such as rice husk, stone pebbles, coconut coir, fibrous grass, sticky jaggery, animal
hair, durable grass, slaked lime, sieved sand, egg yolk, and puzzolana cement, mud can be stabilised to
reduce its shrinkage and cracking. Adequate proportions of clay, silt and gravel ensure the load bearing
mix, to be ensured by lab tests or studies, increase surface integrity to make it non-erodible. Pre-mixed one
or two days earlier, mud also gets the sticky qualities much needed for molecular bonding.

Once ready, the mud mix can be rolled into balls with both hands together to be directly placed to raise the
wall. The balls or cobs need to be pressed dense and then tightly placed one above the other, until different
balls virtually become homogenous. Continuous width check has to be ensured and periodically, the edges
have to be cut to level to take away the bulging mud. Minor variations in wall thickness happen in cob
wall, considered to be the real beauty of the cob construction.

How the coating is done.  

Cob wall is ideally a slow construction method, so we should not build fast up to sill or lintel unlike in a
cement block wall filling in RCC frame construction. Being slow, it demands more patience, akin to a
meditative process. Beneficially, being slow and steady makes it strong and durable unlike the cement
block wall which is weak and short lived, on a comparative note.

Wattle and daub is a western coinage but in Indian vernacular traditions it has varied regional words,
primarily meaning mat and mud. Simply saying, this age-old idea is the pre-cursor to modern RCC,
concrete reinforced with steel inside. In wattle and daub, mud replaces concrete and bamboo replaces steel.
In place of bamboo, other local variants including thin branches of highly fibrous plants or woven mats of
durable grass can be tried, but bamboo is best suited.

Spacing of split bamboo can vary for different walls types, but should not be more than 6 inches. More
recent innovations have been attaching chicken mesh or grass mats over the frame to provide additional
dimensional stability to the wall. Water- and termite-proofing the wall is very important which can be
achieved by integrally adding lime or applying surface coats. Treated bamboo is preferred, yet is not a
must if it would be completely embedded inside the stabilised mud wall. No rusting metal, bio-degradable
component and decomposing ingredients that can create a void should be used in a wattle and daub wall.

Columnar support if provided by bamboo and mud roof supported over split bamboo over bamboo mat
completes the picture of a bamboo and mud architecture. In case of all material and labour being local, this
would have the least of embodied energy, minimised indoor heat gain, aesthetics that calms the mind,
reduced capital costs, possibly lowered construction budget and all of this would return to earth, leaving
hardly any debris for landfills. Of course, there could be certain limitations in mud bamboo architecture
being applicable to all building types across all sites, yet it has far more applicability than being considered
now.

Consistent research and development efforts by institutions such as IISc., Auroville, Mrinmayee,
Hunnarshala, Costford, CGBMT, INBAR, Thannal, and National Bamboo Mission, varied state bamboo
development corporations and many others have led to a resurgent interest in mud and bamboo
architecture. Complimentary consultancy support by private architects and engineers have further
promoted them, with the major bottleneck lying now only in shortage of construction teams and
contractors.

It is a myth that mud and bamboo architecture is only for the rich, with the consultants and builders being
unaffordable by the middle class. Low and high costs exist everywhere including in the three basic needs
of food, fabric and shelter, so even the normal conventional house construction sector has it. Hence, the
misnomer that alternatives are costly needs to be de-mystified. Like every emerging idea, mud architecture
has also been subject to style, site location, skill sets, supply chain, service provider and many such
criteria, leading the buildings to cost less, medium or more.

By itself, this ancient design and build approach is not boutique, elitist or only for the rich. The owners can
choose mud architecture for frugality, finesse or even for fashion. The choice is ours.

Bamboo houses

KEYWORDS:
Special properties High strenght, flexibility, numerous designs possible
Economical aspects Low to medium costs
Stability Good
Skills required Traditional bamboo craftmanship
Equipment required Tools for cutting, splitting, tying bamboo
Resistance to earthquake Very good
Resistance to hurricane Good
Resistance to rain Depends on protective measures
Resistance to insects Low
Climatic suitability Warm humid climates
Stage of experience Traditional

SHORT DESCRIPTION:

· The examples of bamboo houses shown on the following pages are taken from
the excellently illustrated bamboo construction manual by Oscar Hidalgo Lopez
(Bibl. 24.07).

· All the structural components and most of the non-structural parts (floors and
wall cladding) are made of bamboo. Only very little timber is used and the roof
covering can be of any suitable, locally available material (eg thatch, fibre
concrete, ferrocement, metal sheeting, cement mortar, or even stabilized, water-
resistant soil mortar).

· The bamboo components are joined either by means of lashing materials,

dowels, bolts or nails. A great number of possible bamboo connections is shown in
the construction manual.

· On account of its low resistance to biological attack and fire, protective measures
are necessary (see section on Bamboo).

Further information: Oscar Hidalgo Lopez, Universidad Nacional de Colombia,

Apartado Aereo 54118, Bogota, Colombia.
Construction of a Coffee Plant (also suitable for dwelling) (Bibl. 24.07)
Positioning of the supports and erecting the structural framework
Fixing the rafters and construction of upper and lower floors (upper floor and wall
cladding with split-bamboo or wooden laths, lower floor covered with stabilized
rammed earth).
Bracing of roof structure and completion of roof covering (first with split-bamboo
or wooden laths, fixed with nails and wire, then covered with cement mortar,
stabilized waterproof mud mortar or thatch).
Bamboo Structure with Prefabricated Space Frame Roof (Wooden boards serve as
template and temporary bracing during prefabrication; the walls of the house are
not necessarily made of bamboo).
Bamboo House on Stilts
Round House with Thatched Conical Roof (Structural stability is obtained by a
bamboo tension ring along the top of the bamboo columns).