Bamboo: the misunderstood material gaining traction as a structural building product

The image of bamboo as a material has often been associated with rudimentary or simplistic items such as a fishing rod or a tiki bar; it’s been commonly seen as a poor man’s timber in southeast Asia, and hasn’t yet been widely used in most Western countries. However, the combination of a global timber shortage and the need for more sustainable building solutions has thrust bamboo into the spotlight. 

Specifiers and architects are now starting to understand its unique qualities as a structural material, says House of Bamboo’s Jennifer Snyders. 

“When you harvest bamboo for bi-products, you don't cause deforestation because only the relevant culms are selected. This practice ensures that 75% of the forest remains intact, preserving biodiversity. Additionally, bamboo naturally regenerates through its rhizome network, eliminating the need for replanting. With these sustainable harvesting methods, we retain all the benefits of carbon sequestration and oxygen production—it's our quickest answer to restoring our planet!"

Jennifer should know; she’s worked closely with the material for more than 20 years, since she joined forces with her father in the family business, House of Bamboo, in 2000 after studying architecture. In 2011 she took over the company and began an in-depth exploration into the use of bamboo in the built environment. 

“I understood it as a plant with an enormous benefit to the environment, and there was an opportunity to change the paradigm of how bamboo was perceived,” shares Jennifer.

She was incredibly excited to learn that bamboo is the fastest growing land plant in the world, capturing four times more carbon than trees, and expelling 30% more oxygen. 

“As I started to understand it as a plant I thought, ‘Wow, what a difference this could make to the environment if we had more bamboo growing around the world!’” 

The unique qualities of bamboo

There are thousands of varieties of bamboo but not all types are suitable for structural building products.  Bamboo has a unique and highly efficient cell structure that contributes to its remarkable strength, flexibility, and fast growth rate, making it a versatile and sustainable material comparable to timber but unique. 

Jennifer says bamboo types are selected based on which variety is going to be highest yielding in the climate where it’s grown. 

“It goes through a long process because it’s essentially a hollow round pole, and so the amount of material you use is only the outer section of the material, but the process involved is not dissimilar to Cross Laminated Timber (CLT).”

House of Bamboo is exploring how to adapt machinery designed for processing Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) for use with bamboo. Jennifer is convinced that partnering with the timber industry is essential for advancing the acceptance of bamboo as a complementary, rather than competing, material.

Jennifer says innovation in the bamboo industry is developing at pace, as the building industry begins to recognise the advantages of using a fast-growing sustainable product for building structures.

“Because it's grass, it’s not recognised as a building material, globally. But exciting things are happening; engineers are working hard to place it as a material that can be understood as a structural material in its own right.”

In support of this, new standards were released last June around the use of structural bamboo in construction, and Jennifer says these will go a long way to having the possibilities and potential of bamboo recognised as a structural material.

“I’m absolutely sure it will be integrated into the mainstream building codes in the near future as it’s far more sustainable than other materials. We have a timber shortage which is only going to increase and we have to find alternate materials - I think bamboo is going to be one of the key elements that can do that. It's a no-brainer!”

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