(Eleena Jamil Architect)Sustainable Bamboo Mass Housing for Malaysia
(Eleena Jamil Architect)
Malaysian architecture firm Eleena Jamil Architect has decided to show that the bamboo that flourishes freely in the country has far more uses as a construction material than its current application in temporary low-cost rural dwellings and the occasional coastal holiday home in the Southeast Asian country.
Instead, the firm is looking at bringing bamboo into urban and suburban areas as a sustainable material highly suited to incorporation with the more frequently used steel, concrete and bricks in the construction of the terraced housing that’s a traditional feature in the country’s urban landscape.
In a recent proposal, Eleena Jamil Architect presented a design featuring mass housing terraces, each with just under 7m frontage facing the street. Bamboo culms form the main structure of the three-story terraces as well as supporting the floors and the roof which spans the entire length of the multi-unit building.
Bamboo Used for Most Components
Pairs of Bamboo culms also support the balconies and the jutting roof overhang over the frontage which provides shade for the residents and reduces heat gain, and bamboo continues outwards from the street as trellising for garden greenery. Inside the terraces, lightweight bamboo composite provides the external and internal walls and bamboo floorboards are used as flooring.
