Architecture

Low-cost Blooming Bamboo home built to withstand floods

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The Blooming Bamboo home, by Vietnamese architectural firm H&P Architects (Photo: Doan Thanh Ha)
Blooming Bamboo measures 44 sq m (473 sq ft) (Photo: Doan Thanh Ha)
The exterior features a green wall (Photo: Doan Thanh Ha)
Blooming Bamboo features indoor and outdoor terrace areas (Photo: Doan Thanh Ha)
Blooming Bamboo features indoor and outdoor terrace areas (Photo: Doan Thanh Ha)
A ladder affords access to the upper floor (Photo: Doan Thanh Ha)
H&P Architects reports that Blooming Bamboo can be built by future owners within 25 days (Photo: Doan Thanh Ha)
The upper floor is a multifunction area (Photo: Doan Thanh Ha)
The lattice bamboo design allows plenty of natural light and ventilation to pass into the home (Photo: Doan Thanh Ha)
The homes will be produced at a cost of US$2,500 (Photo: Doan Thanh Ha)
Blooming Bamboo reflects traditional Vietnamese architecture (Photo: Doan Thanh Ha)
Though low-cost, the house is very attractive (Photo: Doan Thanh Ha)
The upper floor is a multifunction area (Photo: Doan Thanh Ha)
The lattice bamboo design allows plenty of natural light and ventilation to pass into the home (Photo: Doan Thanh Ha)
The ground floor features a living room, bedroom, bathroom, WC, and kitchen (Photo: Doan Thanh Ha)
Though low-cost, the house is very attractive (Photo: Doan Thanh Ha)
An area is set aside for plants and animal breeding (Photo: Doan Thanh Ha)
The frame can be adapted to suit the needs of each buyer, using locally-sourced materials (Photo: Doan Thanh Ha)
The ground floor features a living room, bedroom, bathroom, WC, and kitchen (Photo: Doan Thanh Ha)
The frame can be adapted to suit the needs of each buyer, using locally-sourced materials (Photo: Doan Thanh Ha)
The Blooming Bamboo home, by Vietnamese architectural firm H&P Architects (Photo: Doan Thanh Ha)
Blooming Bamboo is placed on stilts (Photo: Doan Thanh Ha)
The home is rated as able to withstand floods of up to 1.5 m (5 ft) in depth (Photo: Doan Thanh Ha)
The Blooming Bamboo home, by Vietnamese architectural firm H&P Architects (Photo: Doan Thanh Ha)
The exterior features a green wall (Photo: Doan Thanh Ha)
Architectural drawings of the home (Image: H&P Architects)
Architectural drawings of the home (Image: H&P Architects)
Architectural drawings of the home (Image: H&P Architects)
Architectural drawings of the home (Image: H&P Architects)
Architectural drawings of the home (Image: H&P Architects)
Model of the home (Photo: Doan Thanh Ha)
View gallery - 30 images

Vietnamese architectural firm H&P Architects has produced a new prototype dwelling constructed from bamboo. Dubbed Blooming Bamboo, the house is built to withstand heavy flooding, and is eventually intended to be mass-produced and sold as an affordable and attractive home.

The Blooming Bamboo prototype measures 44 sq m (473 sq ft), is placed on stilts, and is built around a central frame constructed from bamboo. This frame can be further adapted to suit the needs of each owner, using locally-sourced materials which include bamboo, fiberboard, and coconut leaves.

An area is set aside for plants and animal breeding (Photo: Doan Thanh Ha)

The ground floor features a living room, bedroom, bathroom, WC, and kitchen, while an additional multi-function upper floor is accessible via ladder. An area is set aside for plants and animal breeding, and the home sports both indoor and outdoor terraces.

Blooming Bamboo's facade allows ample natural light and ventilation, and the property also includes rainwater collection facilities with integrated filtration system. Besides a house, the building could also be used as a small community center, medical center, or educational facility.

Blooming Bamboo is rated as able to withstand floods of up to 1.5 m (5 ft) in depth, but work is underway to increase this to 3 m (10 ft).

H&P Architects reports that Blooming Bamboo can be built by future owners within 25 days, and the homes are expected to be produced at a cost of US$2,500.

Source: H&P Architects via Arch Daily

View gallery - 30 images
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8 comments
Airsoft-World Scotland
This design is genius and if it's really $2500, I'll take several! Looking at the architects web site, they designed this for a competition and won it in 2008 - that's quite some time for news to reach us Westerners!
Amaury Veiga
How clever and nice!
Jon Smith
Looks perfect for our Wisconsin winters since we get so much flooding! Just kidding I bet it is perfect for Vietnam.
BigGoofyGuy
I think this is an elegant way to 'get back to nature' or 'get away from it all'. I think it looks nice. I can also see it being used in a campground where the renters would rought it but not have to sleep on the ground.
Gary Tucker
I thought I was missing something until I viewed the plans more carefully and saw the 4 embedded steel pillars and reused oil drums. Those are not shown in the model pictures.
I would also perhaps suggest figuring out a way to put the water tank and filtered tank as tall thin back to back cores in the center of the house. That way the fresh water could rise with the house. It would also give it a nice center of gravity.
Otherwise brilliant design. Bangladesh alone would make for a economies of scale market.
JSSFB
I am intrigued with the use of natural building materials, and the house looks traditional in design as well as being upgraded for modern living also to cope with the prevailing conditions. I lived in Africa got many years as well as England and love the way houses are different to deal with the local conditions. I do think that England and the west could do a lot more to make use of natural products in a traditional way. getting away from our rigid 'so call' modern homes and into more usable homes suitable to real living. I am really impressed with this design.
bf_308
As everyone says: Cheap camping/holiday home for us Westerners at $2500, but for Bangladesh.........c'mon guys get real! They most likely earn that in a lifetime, so unless they receive Aid from the West, they have to continue living in their shanty towns.....and that's the lucky ones!!
MQ
I have advocated (amongst my associates) making floating houses for flood prone areas for years..
Basically a grounded house boat secured to piles like a pontoon. (As with this design)
Several designs have been made by likewise inventive people, this must be the lowest cost unit I have seen...
Sadly I haven't built my own, as for my location to flood would need a Noah type of deluge. And it is something that the average person doesn't go and buy low lying land just to test out.