Building With Bamboo Continuing a tradition in modern context.

By Inspiration Cochin, Kerala.

The Context Why Bamboo?

! Building our own office there was the need to take a step in the direction of bringing about a paradigm shift in the use of materials. The search brought us to bamboo.

Potential of Bamboo
Bamboo grows very fast and is highly renewable. To build 1000 houses of bamboo annually, material may be taken from a 60hectare bamboo plantation, which can be replaced in 5-7 years. If an equivalent project used timber, it would require 500 hectares of forest cover and it would take decades to replace. Bamboo, unlike cement and steel, helps in decentralizing the construction process which has both economic and more importantly ecological advantages.

Our Forte

Shri.KR Datye and Shri.Vilas N Gore are structural and geo-technical engineers based in Mumbai, who have done over 20 years of research and field tests in application of bamboo as a structural material. We turned to them for technical support.

What we wanted
to be able to accommodate the whole of our multi-faceted staff team. to retain all the trees in the premises. to have optimum natural lighting in every corner during daytime, and good natural ventilation and thermal comfort. we were clear that what we are trying to achieve is a modern building.

Other Considerations
the building had to resist 200 kmph cyclonic winds and earth quake of intensity that can occur in the region. weak soil. high water table - ground dampness. insect, termite and rodent attacks were also be prevented. to satisfactorily meet all of the above requirements at less than market costs prevalent in our area for a building having so many features.

The Design

GROUND FLOOR PLAN

The building planning concept is woven around openness in plan that keeps the communication flowing yet maintains privacy. The orientation of the building is such that the north east morning winds blowing over the pond gets cooled and flows into office areas. Passages act as buffer zones stopping the rain and harsh light from entering workspaces.

The Design
The spaces can be classified into public, semi private, private and executive.

FIRST FLOOR PLAN

BIRDS EYE VIEW

CUT AWAY SECTION

The Structure
Covering an area of 2750 Sft, our office is probably the first and largest of its kind and an experiment where we have attempted to develop a technology (bamboo and reinforced plaster) for using bamboo in floors, walls and roofs in ways that meet our contemporary needs. Bamboo is used in combination with RCC (columns), ferro-cement (beams), and a limited quantity of reinforced plaster so as to arrive at an attractive functional and replicable combination of technologies. It is noteworthy that almost 25% of the bamboo used in the building was cut from the immediate premises of the building.

The Foundation
Considering the weak soil and the high water table the structure stands on column footings about 3 feet deep. Standing the structure on stilts helped prevent the dampness from seeping in and also safeguarded the bamboo from termite, insect and rodent attacks. The maximum load on a column is 30 KN and an isolated footing is provided for the foundation.

The Floors, Walls and Roofs

The infill floor, walls and roof of the building are constructed using micro-steel reinforced mortar bamboo composite.

Large glazed windows are given all along the inward looking walls which give ample protected lighting and ventilation. The temperature difference between the exterior and the interior averages 4-5 degrees on a hot summer day.

Finishes

Loading
The dead load of the composite is 1500 N/m2 and the live load is taken as 4000 N/m2 The building is also analyzed for wind and earthquake loads. The maximum load taken by one column is 30 KN and an isolated footing of size 1m x 1m is provided to take the load. The building was monitored for two years on a weekly basis. Observations were made in the X, Y and Z axis for displacement and no displacement was observed.

Preservative Treatment
All bamboo used on the building has been given preservative treatment. At the time of construction water based pressure treatment with non-toxic preservative chemicals was given. A pressure of 3.5 Kg/cm for one hour was found to be sufficient to achieve a retention of more than 8 Kg/m3 (dry salt) in split bamboo. Presently we are into LOSP cold dip treatment for in-situ bamboo. It is a non-hazardous trichlorophenol formulation which can be used to replace water soluble preservatives.

Other Features
An Anaerobic treatment plant (DEWATS) treats the sewage and waste water generated in the office. The system consists of an anaerobic baffled reactor, planted gravel filter and polishing pond. The treated water is recycled for gardening. Rain water is harvested and the pond acts as a beautiful landscape element. Water proofing for pond: local clay forms impermeable lining in wet condition. An LDPE geofabric liner protects the clay from drying, cracking and leaking. In an attempt to minimise river sand mining and its consequences, manufactured sand was used instead. Pre-cast ferro-cement beams have been used as an alternative to RCC. This reduces both the quantity of steel used and the cost.

Significant Achievements
Bamboo replaces almost 70% of structural cement and steel, without compromising on any of the qualities that make use of RCC popular. The self weight of the building is reduced by around 50% in comparison to a conventional building of the same nature, which can be very advantageous when used for a multi-storied building as the basic building frame can be made much lighter. This technology can, with some more effort, be easily adapted for standardization and assembly line production of prefabricated components.

Inspirations award winning entry International Bamboo Competition, Hawaii

THANK YOU!

Inspiration, Opp.Bhavans Vidya Mandir, Eroor (W) P.O., Thripunithura, Cochin 682 306, Kerala, India. Tel: +91-484-2779462/70/73 Fax: +91-484-2781324 Web: www.inspire-india.com