AT editor Isabel Allen unearths bamboo, a material that according engineer Neil Thomas, is “the material engineers would invent if they could design a material from scratch.”
The cover of AT326 featured the 32° East Arts Centre in Uganda by New Makers Bureau and Localworks
Heatwaves. Heavy rains. Flash floods. Britain’s mild-mannered climate has been consigned to history. One unexpected side effect is that great swathes of the country are now warm enough and wet enough to grow bamboo. Ireland, Cornwall and much of Devon have the ideal climatic conditions. And thanks to the urban heat cloud, London does too. Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) London is advocating the use of existing areas of green belt in London’s 18 outer boroughs to create an uninterrupted ring of trees around the capital. But would it be better to establish an uninterrupted plantation of bamboo?Â
Bamboo can grow in poor soil, making it an ideal crop for regenerating degraded farmland, and its roots absorb pollution, as demonstrated in water treatment facilities in developing countries and, closer to home, in France. Bamboo roots form a thick mat that soaks up water and holds soil, preventing erosion and shoring up river banks, which could which prove a real asset in the city’s efforts to mitigate flooding risk.
In AT326, Adam Khan reviewed 98-100 De Beauvoir Road by Henley Halebrown.
Harder than hardwood, with a tensile strength comparable to steel, it is – to quote the brilliant structural engineer Neil Thomas – ‘the material engineers would invent if they could design a material from scratch’. Thomas, whose practice atelier one is an undisputed leader in the field, has produced a learning module for School of Specification detailing the extraordinary structural, environmental and architectural potential of natural and engineered bamboo.
For Still Standing, Ian Volner reflected on the Soane Museum in London
Bamboo’s prodigious growth rate makes it one of the most efficient carbon storage systems in the natural world. It can grow at a rate of a metre a day, reaching a height of 25-30 metres within two to three months. Within four years it’s ready to harvest. Crucially, it can be harvested without damaging the plant or its root system, meaning that it can continue to grow and regenerate providing a steady supply of the world’s most renewable construction material.
For Materials Library, Hackney-based practice, Material Cultures sat down with AT to discuss how they work with sustainable materials for a post-carbon world.
So why hasn’t it caught on in the UK? Our regulatory framework is not designed for the idiosyncrasies of natural materials. But this is being addressed by the development of engineered bamboo products that deliver the uniformity of timber-based materials, such as CLT. There is also a belief that any environmental benefits are cancelled out by the inefficiencies of transportation from the other side of the world. However, BambooLogic, the first large-scale bamboo plantation company in Europe, has established a 150-hectare plantation in southern Portugal. Why can’t it happen here?
