Dezeen Magazine

Blooming Bamboo Home by H&P Architects

Vietnamese studio H&P Architects has built a prototype bamboo house designed to withstand floods up to three metres above ground (+ slideshow).

Blooming Bamboo Home by H&P Architects

H&P Architects used tightly-packed rows of bamboo cane to build the walls, floors and roof of the Blooming Bamboo Home, along with bamboo wattle, fibreboard and coconut leaves.

Blooming Bamboo Home by H&P Architects

Elevated on stilts, the house is accessed using wooden ladders that lead to small decks around the perimeter. The area beneath can be used for keeping plants and animals, but would allow water to pass through in the event of a flood.

Blooming Bamboo Home by H&P Architects

The walls fold outwards to ventilate the building, plus sections of the roof can be propped open or completely closed, depending on the weather.

Blooming Bamboo Home by H&P Architects

Inside, living and sleeping areas occupy the main floor, and ladders lead up to attic spaces that can be used for study or prayer.

Blooming Bamboo Home by H&P Architects

The vernacular structure can be assembled in as little as 25 days and adapted to suit varying local climates and sites.

Blooming Bamboo Home by H&P Architects

It has been designed as a house, but could also be used as a school classroom, medical facility or community centre.

Blooming Bamboo Home by H&P Architects

"The house can keep people warm in the most severe conditions and help them control activities in the future, also contributing to ecological development as well as economic stabilisation," said the architects.

Blooming Bamboo Home by H&P Architects

Suspended sections of bamboo can be filled with plants to create a vertical garden on the facade.

Blooming Bamboo Home by H&P Architects

At night, interior lighting shines through the cracks in the walls to make the building glow from within.

Blooming Bamboo Home by H&P Architects

Other bamboo structures on Dezeen include a floating tea house with louvred bamboo corridors, a thatched dome at the centre of a lake and homes designed to assist the housing crisis in VietnamSee more architecture using bamboo »

Blooming Bamboo Home by H&P Architects

See more Vietnamese houses »
See more architecture and design in Vietnam »

Here's some information from the architects:


Blooming Bamboo Home

In Vietnam, the natural phenomena are severe and various: storm, flood, sweeping floods, landslides, drought, etc. The damage every year, which is considerable compared to the world scale, takes away about 500 persons and 1.2%-GDP-equally assets and reduces the involved areas' development.

Blooming Bamboo Home by H&P Architects

One solution to houses and homes for millions of these people is the goal of this BB (Blooming Bamboo) home.

Blooming Bamboo Home by H&P Architects

From the bamboo module of f8-f10cm & f4-f5cm diameter and 3.3m or 6.6 length, each house is simply assembled with bolting, binding, hanging, placing.

Blooming Bamboo Home by H&P Architects

This pulled monolithic architecture is strong enough to suffer from phenomena like 1.5m-high flood. Currently, H&P Architects is experimenting the model to suffer 3m-high flood. The space is multifunctional such as House, Educational, Medical and Community Centre and can be spread if necessary.

Blooming Bamboo Home by H&P Architects
Example of closed and open house

From the fixed frame using f8-f10cm bamboo, the house cover can be finished according to its local climate and regional materials (f4-f5cm small bamboo, bamboo wattle, fibreboard, coconut leaf) in order to create vernacular architecture.

Blooming Bamboo Home by H&P Architects
Concept for multiple houses - click for larger image

The users can build the house by themselves in 25 days. Besides, it can be mass produced with modules and the total cost of the house is only 2500$.

Blooming Bamboo Home by H&P Architects
Concept diagram - click for larger image

Therefore, the house can warm people in the most severe conditions and help them control activities in the future, also remarkably contribute to ecological development as well as economic stabilisation.

Blooming Bamboo Home by H&P Architects
Floor plan and sections - click for larger image

This will give conditions for self-control process and create connection between vernacular culture and architecture.