BAMBOO ARCHITECTURE HANDOUTS

LOBERIANO, MERVIE J. | AMPOAN, RUZEL C. | SALDINO, SHIENA MARIE A. | DOLORZO, CYRIL KAYE D. | DEDIOS, MAICA A

BAMBOO ARCHITECTURE

I.INTRODUCTION OF BAMBOO
ARCHITECTURE__________________________________________________________

WHAT IS BAMBOO ARCHITECTURE?

Once thought of as the building material of the poor, bamboo is now being used more
prominently in all types of architecture. From houses to business buildings, more and more
places are being built with bamboo as the main material or at least an accenting material of
architecture.
The Bamboo Star playground in
WHAT IS ANCIENT BAMBOO ARCHITECTURE? Phnom Penh was designed by Atelier
Bahay Kubo in the Philippines Traditional House in Myanmar
In the past, bamboo was not known as a premium building
material. In most cultures that used it, from China to India, the
poorest people were the ones who used bamboo as a building
material for their homes. Bamboo is traditionally connected with
the cultures of South Asia, East Asia, the South Pacific, Central
America, and South America in its natural state as a building
material. Simple suspension bridges were supported by bamboo in
China and India by twisting full culms of sufficiently pliable
bamboo together or by creating cables out of split bamboo.

BAMBOO AS A RENEWABLE SOURCE

Unlike wood, which can take between twenty and sixty years to mature to the stage where it can be harvested, bamboo
takes a very short amount of time to regenerate comparison. Most species of bamboo that are used in architecture can be harvested
after three to six years of growth. The quickest-growing species of bamboo can grow up to one meter a day and reach full growth
within two months. This makes bamboo the most efficient renewable resource, especially in today's world where wood is
becoming scarcer

BAMBOO STRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS

Bamboo is a unique building material in that it is strong in both rigidity and density. While tensile strength remains the
same throughout the age of the bamboo plant, the plant fiber strength increases as it gets older. There is some controversy in
determining proper testing protocols though and is still under debate. To utilize bamboo to its utmost potential, several conditions
are important to consider. One factor is that bamboo grown on slopes is stronger than bamboo grown in valleys and that bamboos
that grow in poor dry soils are usually more solid than those grown in rich soils. Bamboo also shrinks diametrically, and that
should be taken into consideration.

EXAMPLES OF BAMBOO ARCHITECTURE

Bamboo Courtyard Teahouse Kontum Indochine Cafe Low Cost House by Vo Trong Salon in Bangkok by NKDW
by HWCD Associates by Vo Trong Nghia Architect

West Kowloon Bamboo Theatre House in the Philippines by

by William Lim Atelier Sacha Cotture
Wind and Water Bar by Blooming Bamboo Home
Vo Trong Nghia by H&P Architects
BAMBOO ARCHITECTURE HANDOUTS
LOBERIANO, MERVIE J. | AMPOAN, RUZEL C. | SALDINO, SHIENA MARIE A. | DOLORZO, CYRIL KAYE D. | DEDIOS, MAICA A
II.BAMBOO AS A BUILDING
MATERIAL________________
Due to its ease of cultivation, quick harvest, and ability to
be recycled, bamboo has gained widespread recognition as a
sustainable building material. Bamboo is a flexible and light
building material. These qualities make organic-shaped building
construction particularly suitable. The outcome demonstrates that
bamboo can serve as a potential replacement for steel and concrete
as a building material for structures with organic shapes.
FACTS ABOUT BAMBOO
 Bamboo is perennial grass and not a tree as commonly
perceived.
 1450 species are found in diverse climates across the
world, however not all of these are suitable for
construction.
 One of the fastest-growing plants on earth. Its growth
rate ranges from 30cm-1m in 24 hours.
 The strongest part of a bamboo stalk is its node where
branching occurs.
PROPERTIES OF BAMBOO
A. TENSILE-STRENGTH - the fiber of the bamboo runs axially.
The outer zone is a highly elastic vascular bundle, that has high
tensile strength.
B. SHRINKING - bamboo shrinks more than wood when it loses
water.
C. FIRE RESISTANCE -bamboo is very good because of the
high content of silicate acid. Filled up with water, it can stand a
temperature of 400 degrees Celsius while the water cooks inside.
D. ELASTICITY - the enormous elasticity of bamboo makes it to
very good building material for earthquake-danger areas. Another
advantage of bamboo is its low weight. It is transported and
worked easily; the use of cranes is mostly unnecessary.
E. AN-ISOTROPIC PROPERTIES - bamboo is an anisotropic
material. There are cellulose fibers in the longitudinal direction,
which is strong and stiff and in the transverse direction, there is
lignin, which is soft and brittle.
F. DURABILITY - bamboo with low humidity is less prone to
mold attacks especially when humidity content is less than 15% the
quality of bamboo increases with a decrease in its humidity
content. Bamboo to be treated with a preservative need to be dry to
facilitate penetration.
BAMBOO SIZES
Bamboo sizes are generally specified by minimum diameter, wall
thickness, and length.
 Column 80-100mm diameter,
 Wall thickness 10-12mm diameter
 Bamboo strips for infill panels - 18-20mm wide, 8-10mm
thick
HOW TO PROTECT BAMBOO? UNTREATED BAMBOO
Untreated bamboo has the following life spans in different
conditions
 Exposure to soil and atmosphere = 1-3 years
 Undercover = 4-7 years
 Very favorable conditions = 10-15 years
PRE-HARVESTED AND POST-HARVESTED
PRECAUTIONS
 Felling during low sugar content season i.e. dry season.
 Felling of mature bamboo
 Post-harvesting transpiration
 Water soaking
DIFFERENT PRESERVATION TREATMENTS OF
BAMBOO
 Borax - boric acid preservation treatment
 Neem seed oil treatment
Traditional (non-chemical) treatment
 Smoking
 Whitewashing
 Curing
 Soaking
Chemical treatment
 Surface application
 Hot & cold method
 Boucheire process
 Inter nodal injection
PRESERVATIVES RECOMMENDED
 Coal tar creosote
 Copper - chrome - arsenic composition
 Acid-cupric-chromate mate composition
 Copper – chrome-born composition
 Copper-zinc – naphthenate
SELECTION OF BAMBOO SPECIES
The ideal varieties of bamboo for building and construction will
reach heights of at least 40 to 50 feet and have poles that are at
least 4 to 5 inches in diameter. The culm walls must also be
extremely thick to ensure the greatest structural strength, which is
crucial. More than 1,200 species of bamboo, or as many as 2,000
cultivars, are known to botanists. Even though each type of
bamboo is unique and magnificent in its own right, only a few are
truly suitable for lumber and building materials. Guadua,
Dendrocalamus, Bambusa, and Phyllostachys are the four genera
that usually have the best bamboo for construction.
GENUS GUADUA
The Genus Guadua contains about 20 different species. These are
all massive timber varieties, and some of them grow more than 100
feet tall and more than 6 inches in diameter. Guadua is a
neotropical variety, meaning that it grows indigenously in the
tropic and sub-tropic regions of the new world, namely central and
south America.
GENUS DENDROCALAMUS
Native to the tropic and subtropic regions of India and Southeast
Asia, Dendrocalamus includes several species with important uses
for construction. Most members of this clumping genus can grow
up to 50 or 60 feet tall with mature culms of 3-5 inches in diameter.
And in Indonesia, the natives refer to it as “Bambu Batu”, which
translates literally as rock bamboo. Revered for its hardness, this
species is common for furniture and light construction, as well as
paper making.
GENUS BAMBUSA
One of the more common genera of bamboo, Bambusa contains
well over 100 species, mostly native to Asia and the pacific islands.
Many of these clumping bamboos are popular garden specimens,
especially Oldham’s (b. Oldhamii). Bambusa varieties are also
well-known for their tasty and edible shoots. Most species of
Bambusa grow tall and upright, with handsome canes sometimes
up to 40-60 feet high. One of the best species for building purposes
is probably b. Bambos.
GENUS PHYLLOSTACHYS
Another of the largest genera of bamboo, Phyllostachys also
contains more than 100 varieties. Native to China and Taiwan, it’s
mostly subtropical but tends to tolerate a more temperate habitat. In
China, this genus is especially ubiquitous. The Chinese use
numerous varieties for everything from construction and
scaffolding to chopsticks and handicrafts. You can generally
recognize a Phyllostachys specimen pretty easily by the distinctive
groove that runs along its internodes.
BAMBOO REINFORCED CONCRETE
PROTECTION OF BAMBOO IN CASE OF BAMBOO
REINFORCEMENT STRUCTURES
 During the casting and curing of concrete, reinforcing
bamboo absorbs water and expands.
 The swelling of bamboo pushes the concrete away.
 Then at the end of the curing period, the bamboo loses
the moisture and shrinks back almost to its original
dimensions leaving voids around itself.
 BAMBOO ARCHITECTURE HANDOUTS

LOBERIANO, MERVIE J. | AMPOAN, RUZEL C. | SALDINO, SHIENA MARIE A. | DOLORZO, CYRIL KAYE D. | DEDIOS, MAICA A

 The swelling and shrinkage of bamboo in concrete create

a serious limitation in the use of bamboo as a substitute
for steel in concrete.
 One effective treatment is the application of a thin layer
of epoxy to the bamboo surface followed by a coating of b. FLATTENED BAMBOO ROOF (KNOWN LOCALLY AS
fine sand. PELUPUH)
COMPARISON OF BAMBOO AND STEEL
 The strength of bamboo is greater than steel
 Bamboo is easily accessible
 Bamboo lowers the cost of construction
 Bamboo can crack and deflect more than steel
reinforcement.
BAMBOO HOUSING
The majority of bamboo construction relates to the rural
community needs in developing countries. Common types of
construction include farm and school buildings and bridges.
Further applications of bamboo relevant to construction include its
use as scaffolding, water piping, and as shuttering and
reinforcement for concrete. c. THATCH ROOFING (KNOWN LOCALLY AS ALANG
ALANG)
d. HALVE BAMBOO ROOF
III. BAMBOO CONSTRUCTION________________________ 4. FLOORING

BAMBOO CONSTRUCTION
• Bamboo has been in wide usage since ancient times as a low-cost
material for houses, bridges, etc.
• Recently started appearing in designer homes as flooring, walling,
and paneling material.
• Is viewed as a material preferred only by the poor or for temporary
constructions.
• Unpopular in conventional construction due to low durability, lack
of structural design data, and exclusion from building codes. Bamboo can be used as a flooring material due to its better wear
USE OF BAMBOO IN CONSTRUCTION
1. IN SCAFFOLDING
Bamboo poles lashed together have been used as scaffolding for
high-rise structures due to their strength and resilience. The timber
planks can be replaced with bamboo culms and these can be lashed
to the vertical culms. The working
2. BAMBOO COLUMN AND BEAM and tear resistance and resilience properties. Whole culms act as a
Bamboo is used as reinforcement in beams and columns in building framework and the floor covering is done using split bamboo
construction. boards, mats, etc. Using wire lashing these to the frame. The floors
may be at ground level and therefore consists only of compacted
earth, with or without a covering of bamboo matting.
a. Flattened bamboo:
Formed by splitting green bamboo culms removing the
diaphragms, then rolling and flattening them.
b. Bamboo mats:
The silvers are woven into mats of different sizes according to the
available hot press plates and users’ demands.
c. Bamboo plastic composites:
It is an innovative technology in which bamboo fiber is the raw
material and compounded with plastic as the core material of the
flooring. The ratio of plastic should be over 30% for higher water
resistance and dimensional stability.
5. BAMBOO WALLING/CEILING
a. Bajareque wall:
3. ROOFING This wall-building technique is very well-known in Latin America.
• The roof offers protection against extremes of weather including Bamboo strips are tied on either side of the timber and then an
rain, sun, and wind, and provides shelter, and clear and usable intermediate space is filled with mortar.
space beneath the canopy. b. bamboo board wall:
• The simplest form consists of a bamboo purlin and beams, This is a common method of construction in Indonesia.
supported on perimeter posts.
a. BAMBOO TRUSSES
 BAMBOO ARCHITECTURE HANDOUTS

LOBERIANO, MERVIE J. | AMPOAN, RUZEL C. | SALDINO, SHIENA MARIE A. | DOLORZO, CYRIL KAYE D. | DEDIOS, MAICA A

6. DOORS & WINDOWS DECORATION • We can use natural curve bamboo for this.
Bamboo frames • Bamboo can grow in a curve shape; depending on the species,
can replace timber soil condition, and environment.
frames appropriate to • They can be joined in a row to create a continuous curve shape.
function. bamboo mat. • This method can be applied to create arches or spline roof ridges.
shutters fixed to 2 TYPE OF BAMBOO BENDING METHOD
bamboo board fixed to a. HOT BENDING METHOD
the frame which is O by using hot water
hinged to the wall can O by using a knife
be used as a door. small O by using heat
framed openings hinged b. COLD BENDING METHOD
to the top of the wall O by splitting them and tying them up in a bundle
can serve as windows
7. BAMBOO FOUNDATION (BAMBOO PILES) V. PROS AND CONS OF BAMBOO______________________
 Bamboo compacts soft soil, thus increasing the bearing capacity of
the soil. PROS OF BAMBOO
 The friction provided by the construction-grade bamboo increases 1. TENSILE STRENGTH: bamboo has high tensile strength as
its load-bearing capacity. compared to steel because its fibers run axially. Bamboo is stronger
 Treated splot bamboo piles 8m long and 80 to 90mmin diameter than steel in tensile strength. Steel has a tensile strength of 23,000
were filled with coconut coir. pounds per square inch. But bamboo surpasses steel with a
THE TYPES OF BAMBOO FOUNDATIONS IDENTIFIED ARE: noticeable lead at 28,000 pounds.
 Bamboo in direct ground contact 2. ELASTICITY: bamboo has good elastic properties so it is widely
 Bamboo on rock or performed concrete footings used in earthquake-prone areas.
 Bamboo incorporated into concrete footings 3. FIRE RESISTANCE: it is fire-resistive in nature due to the
 Composite bamboo/concrete columns presence of a high value of silicate acid and water. And it can
withstand up to 4000 degrees Celsius.
4. WEIGHT OF BAMBOO: bamboo due to its low weight is easily
displaced or installed making it very easier for transportation and
construction.
• Bamboo is economical and easy to use as compared to other
types of construction material.
• Bamboo environment-friendly construction material and does
not cause pollution.
• Bamboo is more durable as compared to other construction
materials.
IV: BAMBOO IN ORGANIC-SHAPED STRUCTURES______ • It is the fastest-growing renewable natural building material.
• Masonry as an independent building material.
WHAT IS ORGANIC SHAPE IN ARCHITECTURE? • COST-EFFECTIVE and easy to work.
Organic architecture correlates the relation between a building and • Can be easily BENT, give desired shape, and can provide joints
its environment, stating that a building should integrate itself with to suit the construction.
its site. • Its enormous elasticity makes it suit FOR EARTHQUAKE-
EXAMPLES: PRONE areas.
• Locally available material in some areas, which tries to carry
the local tradition & vernacular Architecture of that place.

CONS OF BAMBOO:
1. SHRINKAGE: bamboo shrinks much greater as compared to
other types of materials.
2. DURABILITY: if the bamboo is not sufficiently treated it may
undergo a fungus attack or attacks caused by insects.
Theater Hengkeng Village by • There may be a problem of swelling and shrinkage of bamboo
Kontum Indochine Cafe
Xu Tiantian in the concrete.
by Vo Trong Nghia Architects
• It requires preserving otherwise it will LOSE its strength.
• It is shaped by nature.
• It needs coating as it is attacked by fungi, insects, etc.
• Even with high strength its joints ARE always weak.
• It needs advanced guidance with detailed study and codes.
• They are not fire resistant.

Green School in Bali, Indonesia Bamboo Koening Restaurant

CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES OF BAMBOO FOR

ORGANIC-SHAPED BUILDINGS
• Organic shape buildings use arch, spline, or other curvature
shapes.
• 2 methods are used to curve bamboo: They are the hot bending
method and the cold bending method.