Up until now, I haven't particularly considered or tested bamboo in terms of how it would create the structures on the site, as I have been focusing on firstly ensuring that it is viable and the optimum choice from the perspective of growing it on site and integrating into a permaculture set-up. However, I had been assuming that it would be used as the final material of any structures built. As a counterpoint to this, a different idea which has emerged is that the bamboo could be used to create temporary structures on the site, and perhaps also be the scaffolding or formwork for then creating more permanent structures out of a different material.
Bamboo scaffolding
There is precedent for bamboo being used as a scaffolding material – it is commonly used in the present day in Hong Kong and China. There are also examples of it being used as the structure to support formwork for casting concrete, so this is not an unfeasible idea.
Sketches showing how bamboo could be used as a structure for applying formwork to
The sketches above demonstrate how this could be used as scaffolding, onto which conventional plywood formwork could be applied. Then, concrete, or a similiar casting material, can be applied to the formwork and left to cure. Once the cast material has cured, the bamboo can be removed and reused either for temporary constructions on other parts of the site, or for most casting to take place elsewhere.
The second sketch introduces another idea, stemming from this one - if a cast material like concrete is used to create permanent structures on the site, then could these also become green roofs to expand the growing and wilding programme across the site even as buildings are placed onto the site?
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