A Structural Romance with
Bamboo
by
Inspiration
Why Bamboo?
64 % of the bamboo species are native to
Southeast Asia. 33% grows in Latin America,
and the rest in Africa and Oceania. With about
125 species, spread across eighteen genera,
the availability of bamboo resources in India is
the second largest in the world ranking only
behind China. There are 1500 species of
bamboo on the earth. This diversity makes
bamboo adaptable to many environments.
It scores comparably with mild steel, with some
considering a few bamboo species to be even
stronger than steel in terms of comparative
stiffness factor and tensile strength. It definitely
scores above other types of timber.
Comparisons
It is very much light in weight compared to
steel, timber or concrete and has a higher
strength by weight ratio than steel and timber
which means that for equal weights of bamboo,
steel and timber, bamboo has a higher strength
than the other two materials. This high strength
and low weight factor of bamboo means that it
inherently has a capability to be earthquake and
cyclone resistant.
Why or how is bamboo ecofriendly?
Being a naturally growing material it is nonenergy-intensive in the sense that no energy is
used as such in its ‘production’.
It is non-polluting in its growth (unless of
course chemical fertilizers are used) or even
after it has been harvested and when it is being
used. The treatment process may or may not be
polluting – the choice is in our hands. All natural
treatment methods are of course non-polluting
and chemical treatment methods can be
managed in a non-polluting way by using nontoxic chemicals and re-cycling / re-using the
chemicals used for treatment and taking all other
necessary precautions.
Being the fastest growing grass in the world (one can
literally SEE and HEAR bamboo grow – the species
Phyllostachys Edullis can grow upto 120cm/day!) it is a
high yielding renewable material resource.
To build 1000 houses of bamboo annually, material may be taken
from a 60-hectare bamboo plantation. If an equivalent project
used timber, it would require 500 hectares of forest cover.
With a 10-30% annual increase in biomass versus 2 to 5% for
trees, bamboo creates greater yields of raw material for use. One
clump can produce 200 poles in the three to five years. Bamboo
generates a crop every year. It can be harvested in 3-5 years
versus 10-20 years for most softwoods.
A sixty foot tree cut for the market takes 60 years to replace. A
sixty foot bamboo cut for market takes 59 days to replace.
Some of our Projects
One of our earliest usage
of bamboo constitutes a
bamboo reinforced road base,
covering an area of 6000
Sqm., at Hotel Sarovaram,
Ernakulam, belonging to BTH
Group of hotels. The soil at
Sarovaram is of a weak marine
clay kind and the site is
bordered by backwaters on the
western side.
Bamboo culverts at
Chitrakutir Kalagram
Our other non-building but structural uses of
bamboo include the following:
Water tank of capacity up to 20,000 liters
Culvert of length 14 m and width 4 m
Retaining walls 3m high for over 25 m length
. . . all at Chitrakutir, an artists village near
Mumbai. And we are proud to add that all these
structures have stood the test of time and nature
by withstanding the recent floods in and around
Mumbai.
Our own office
premises in Eroor,
Kerala, covering an area
of 2750 Sft, is a first of its
kind structure and an
experiment where we
have attempted to
develop a technology for
using bamboo in floors,
walls and roofs in ways
that meet our
contemporary needs. . .
.an effort for which we
have been honoured with
the National award by
HUDCO.
Basically, the building is a framed structure designed for a
loading condition of approx. 400kg per sq.m live load and to
withstand wind speeds of up to 200 km per hour.
The basic advantage is that because bamboo is a light
material, the entire dead weight of the building has been reduced to
almost 1/3rd of a similar building done with conventional RCC slabs
and masonry walls. This has helped in bringing down the cement
and steel consumption by almost 70%.
The other advantages are the thermal insulation provided
by the hollow cavity of bamboo and additional carpet area because
of reduced wall thickness.
The two storied building is built on column footings about 3
feet deep. The structure stands on stilts, which reduces the chances
of dampness seeping in as well as the attack on the bamboo by
wood by rodents and insects. All bamboo used has been given
preservative treatment.
Wall
Wall Corner
Details
Interiors
Roof
A Resort at Kumarakom, for
Abad Group of Hotels, is the
place where we have taken the
afore mentioned technology to
a higher degree of perfection
(by pre-fabrication of certain
elements), where it caters to
the high end clients of the
tourism industry – luxurious
and serene cottages & pool
villas in a natural setting, at
around Rs.Eight thousand to
Rs.Twelve thousand per night.
We at Inspiration have the backing of over 15 years of
research done in structural application of bamboo by
Shri K.R. Datye and Shri V.N. Gore of Geo-Science
Services, Mumbai
Preservative treatment of bamboo with non-toxic pressure treatment
Preservative treatment of bamboo using coal tar Creosote oil
Cold dip with LOSP (Liquid Organic Solvent Preservative)
treatment.
Use of Split bamboo and reinforced plaster combination in
walling
Use of Split bamboo and reinforced plaster combination in floor
slab and roof slab
Use of full bamboo screen and reconstituted bamboo-wood
composite for soil retaining structure
Use of Re-constituted bamboo-wood composite for soil retaining
walls for construction of water retaining structures
Use of combination of Geo-fabrics and preservative split bamboo
mesh for reinforcement in clayey soil as road base
Use of bamboo crating for packing dry rubble as retaining walls
With the above input, ‘Inspiration’ creatively
combines a group of architects and planners,
infrastructure engineers and technical experts, product
designers and interior designers, construction
management and business management personnel,
trained artisans and technicians, all under one roof.
‘Inspiration’ today, professionally undertakes design and
construction of skillfully crafted site and need specific
buildings with all infrastructure facilities – right from
individual residences to resorts, bigger building
complexes, institutions, villages and townships.
Cholayil MEDIMIX Ayurvedic Retreat, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
An exquisite reteat with an wholesome treatment facility
along with deluxe and executive cottages, numbering 30, with the
highlight being making use of the available bamboo on site for the
entire construction – walls, floors and roofs.
Bamboo house research
project with Kerala Forest
Research Institute
Bamboo house research
project with Kerala Forest
Research Institute
Bamboo for Staircase
Bamboo for built in seats
Prefabricated Bamboo House at Kallar, Kerala
Bamboo for Roof Trusses and Column Supports
Bamboo for floor slabs including cantilevers
Preparation for prefab bamboo
panel fabrication
Fabricated of bamboo panels
Bamboo on steel frames for walls and roof
Bamboo for partition walls
Bamboo office for Socio Economic Unit Foundation
THANK YOU!
Inspiration,
Opp. Bhavan’s Vidyamandir,
Eroor (W) P.O.,
Tripunithura,
Kochi -682 306, Kerala, INDIA.
Tel. (0484) 2779462/70/73
Fax. (0484) 2781324
E-mail: inspire@vsnl.com,
inspiration@eth.net
Web: www.inspire-india.com