Bamboo Building
Design to Construction A-Z
by Bamboo Joj
Constraints & Successes
01
Material supply issues ​
Material Quality
Some imported species were not of the desired structural quality (Culm diameter or wall thickness smaller than required)
This meant we had to adjust our design, by adding further support members in areas of higher loading. Which impacted our visual finishing and quality control.
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Supply chain
2 cancellations of Bamboo Bone delivery (required for our railing infill).
Instead we created our own, which is a very labour intensive process and consequently contributed to a huge project creep in our delivery time.
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02
Skills supply issues
Despite our design intent to use primarily unspecialised labour, we still experienced some skills supply issues.
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Skills Quality
Bamboo construction and carpentry is an extremely specialised artisan skill. Particularly to be able to carve some of the smooth bespoke joints.
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We intended to have two expert bamboo carpenters on site that would be able to assist and train the local workforce.
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However upon arrival, this specialist labour was not adequate to our quality standards.
We had to begin the construction with a completely unskilled bamboo work force.
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Building Techniques ​
​We therefore had to adjust some of the ways we were constructing and teaching, to ensure the building was finished to an appropriate standard.​ Sometimes opting for easier joint mechanisms.
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​This itself is a testament to what was achieved in the first few weeks. In setting out and constructing our frames in the tilt up construction phase, before we were able to onboard a new task team.
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03
Quality Control
Overall, the design team believe the project is at approximately 65% of the optimum desired finishes.
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This is a result of:​
Levelling issues and element placement
Due to our skills restrictions, we opted to choose certain splices and lapping connections with a more simple constructability but a less streamline connection.
Material quality
(Some imported species being inadequate) resulted in adjusting our design and increasing the number of elements.
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However, every user or contractor that has viewed the project is blown away by the scale and the beauty. Further proving that Bamboo is a very forgiving material. We celebrate the natural curvature and irregularity of its form.
Only through our pedantic engineering eyes are we able to see the imperfections.
04
Project creep/ Timeline
So for all of the previously mentioned material and labour supply issues, we experienced a huge amount of project creep.
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This was partially due to ambitious scheduling but mainly down to the huge additional work to be implemented in harvesting & treating new materials in creating our own bamboo bone.
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Conflicting scheduling issues of workers and National holidays, meant we had a fluctuating task force.
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Improved project sequencing in the planning phase would mitigate some of this timeline creep.
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However many of our methods were experimental and involved teaching the community labour. We had very understanding clients who appreciated this process and wanted the best results.
Overall we have fulfilled the design intent. Showcasing how it's possible to create something visually impressive with Bamboo, using a simple framework and local community labour.
An important drive towards accessible housing and net zero construction .
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