Bamboo for construction lecture by Dr Hector Archila (Bath University and Amphibia BASE Ltd)

Bridging the gap between traditional & state-of-the-art bamboo building and manufacturing technologies.

Bamboo is regarded as a highly renewable and versatile material for several applications ranging from bikes and kitchenware to flooring, scaffolding and indigenous structures in developing countries. Bamboo has a specific stiffness comparable to steel (25±0.5 m2s-2) and a high strength to weight ratio. It can grow from zero to 25m in six months and capture six times more carbon than a 100-year-old Oak tree in a five-year period. It is clear that a shift on bamboo processing technologies is required if bamboo is to be considered as a truly sustainable and high performing mainstream material and alternative to wood. This talk will present the progress, challenges and future goals of this research.