On using bamboo as alternative to steel. 

How Tribe LAB’s team of partners and builders worked on bamboo solutions for the past decade to propose a sustainable alternative to steel reinforced concrete. 

According to ArchDaily: Developing countries have the highest demand for steel-reinforced concrete.

In Guatemala the production of concrete is one of the most dominating manufacturing industries. However, the country suffers from a lack of means to produce enough steel to face the demands of the industry.

Rather than put themselves at the mercy of a global market dominated by developed countries, Tribe LAB’s builders, together with one of our construction partners and local architect- Charlie Rendall, have worked with an alternative to this manufacturing rarity: bamboo.

Abundant, sustainable, and extremely resilient, bamboo has potential in the future to become an ideal replacement in places where steel cannot easily be produced.

In trials of tensile strength, bamboo outperforms most other materials, reinforcement steel included.  It achieves this strength through its hollow, tubular structure, evolved over millennia to resist wind forces in its natural habitat.  This lightweight structure also makes it easy to harvest and transport.  Due to its incredibly rapid growth cycle and the variety of areas in which it is able to grow, bamboo is also extremely cheap.  Such rapid plant growth requires the grass to absorb large quantities of CO2, meaning that its cultivation as a building material would help reduce the rate of climate change. These factors alone are an incentive for investment in developing bamboo as reinforcement.

Despite these benefits, there are several limitations. Contraction and expansion is one such limitation, caused by both temperature changes and water absorption.  The grass is also susceptible to structural weakness caused by fungus and simple biodegradation.  Ironically, many of the countries that would benefit from bamboo reinforcement also lack the resources to develop it as a viable alternative to the steel on which they currently rely.

With past projects, Charlie Rendall has proven that we can overcome all the above-mentioned limitations of bamboo. Treated bamboo is no longer vulnerable to weather conditions or biodegradation.

Today, Tribe LAB looks into new ways of using bamboo in construction. Inspired by ancient Mayan techniques of handmade construction, we aspire to integrate this amazing material into our new school project in San Juan La Laguna.

Through conducting research to determine the full gamut of applications that bamboo has as a construction material, we seek new solutions to design light structures and spaces of the ‘in between’. The strength of the material allows us to play with its capacity to hold structures but also create ‘light architectures’ that can be used as an indoor, integrated playground.