Bamboo: flexible, beautiful, strong and it grows up to 3ft per day...

 
   
   
 
 

These sea urchin shaped pods are the library and reception at Bambu Indah, John Hardy's hotel resort in Bali, Indonesia.
 
  Bamboo can grow upto 1m per day  
 

Time lapse of bamboo growing

 

   
       

Bamboo is a grass that grows incredibly quickly, up to 1m (3ft) per day. The high silica content in bamboo means it cannot be easily digested by termites. Additional soaking in borax salt makes bamboo a reliable building material.

Bamboo has a higher tensile strength than many alloys of steel and a higher compressive strength than many mixtures of concrete. Unlike wood, bamboo has no knots. This allows it to withstand more stress throughout the length of each stalk. For a good overview of bamboo construction see INBAR's Bamboo in Construction (PDF 1.8Mb) and see more bamboo buildings on Natural Homes.

  Jonn Hardy on Bamboo  
 

John Hardy talks about bamboo

 
 
       

Door from the library to reception area

 
   
 

View of library with reception beyond