In the spring semester of 2014, an interdisciplinary team of architecture and timber construction engineering students from Bern University of Applied Sciences BFH developed designs for a vacation resort in China built with local bamboo. The construction of the first project was launched last summer during a summer school with the help of the students. The bungalow, whose supporting structure consists of bundled bamboo tubes, is nearing completion.
Bamboo bungalow
Project team
Now “Bamboo Two”, the second Design Build Studio on the subject of bamboo, is starting. For this unique project, fifteen BFH Master’s students worked intensively on the raw material bamboo in five interdisciplinary teams. The goal was set by industry partner Hape Toys, which is financing the project and on whose company-owned bamboo forest the vacation complex, which is to be used by employees and guests, is being built. In addition to the use of bamboo, the focus was on the sustainable use of nature. “Slow tourism” as the guiding principle of the design studio is new in Chinese culture. One of the central objectives was therefore to make the beauty of the region’s nature tangible.
Bamboo as a design and structural element
The design selected for realization uses bamboo as both a design and a structural element. Bamboo canes standing on the concrete floor slab are bundled together to form solid walls that support the concrete roof slab. Bamboo shows its full strength in a vertical direction. This use is new; until now, bamboo canes have mostly been used in linear load-bearing structures or merely as a decorative, non-load-bearing element. Embedded in a bamboo forest, a unique atmosphere is created: the material combines a traditional and local building material with contemporary architecture and integrates nature into the building.
Valuable insights for the future
The project has given the students and lecturers many new insights. In addition to getting to know a promising material and the interdisciplinary collaboration between architects and timber construction engineers, the Chinese culture also provided new insights: Intercultural cooperation with local craftsmen, for example, often required new, non-verbal ways of communication. The experience gained will certainly shape all those involved for their new projects. Bamboo Two started in mid-February and a second summer school in China is planned for this summer. In addition, a research project in the field of bamboo building systems is in preparation together with industry partner Hape Toys.
Summer School 2014 project team: Ulrich Baierlipp, Christa Gertiser, Christophe Sigrist, Stasia Kremer, Elisabeth Naderer, Juan David Orjuela Sepulveda, Sebastian Pertl, Michael Walczak. For further information, please contact Bern University of Applied Sciences Architecture, Wood and Construction Ulrich Baierlipp, e-mail ulrich.baierlipp@bfh.ch