A unique species of grass with a composition similar to wood, bamboo has a compressive strength 10% higher than wood and a tensile strength three to four times that of steel per unit of weight, according to the International Journal for Research in Applied Science and Engineering.

But as demand for sustainability grows, a new generation of eco-friendly construction materials is giving bamboo a run for its money, particularly in temperate climates where bamboo is typically classified as an invasive species that can displace and destroy natural habitats.

Competing materials include cork, which is lightweight, waterproof and has good insulation capacity; recycled plastic, which removes harmful waste products from waterways and landfills; and mycelium, a network of fungal strands that is resistant to water, mold and fire and can be transformed into almost any form.

However, in parts of developing Asia where bamboo is endemic, abundant and cheap it remains one of the most attractive eco-friendly construction materials, despite its maintenance costs, which can be significantly higher than those for more traditional materials.

Not only is bamboo abundant and cheap, it also has a compressive strength 10% higher than wood and a tensile strength three to four times that of steel per unit of weight. However, its maintenance costs can be far higher than those for more traditional materials.   © Getty Images

Ancient China and Japan were historically the home of durable bamboo construction. But it is Bali, which is undergoing a tourism-led construction boom, that is emerging as a regional hub for the trend, with multiple developments including intriguing bamboo buildings and homes.

Occupying 760 square meters of floor space, a building on the island called the Arc is one of the largest bamboo buildings in the world. Set within the forested grounds of the Green School, a holistic grade school, the Arc is used as an auditorium and gymnasium — including a full-size basketball court with a floor made from recycled aircraft tires.

The building was completed in 2021 from a series of 19-meter-long interconnected bamboo arches — a “grid shell” structure that derives strength from curving in opposing directions. “The architects have said it mimics the form and function of a human rib cage, but I think it also mimics the waterfalls of Bali,” says Bima Wicaksono, a Green School official.

Top and bottom: Occupying 760 square meters of floor space, the Arc is one of the largest bamboo buildings in the world. Set within the forested grounds of the Green School, a holistic grade school, the Arc is used as an auditorium and gymnasium. (Photos by Ian Neubauer)

Wicaksono says Indonesian teak would have been an alternative construction material. “It is more resilient to termites and needs far less treatment than bamboo, and it’s more robust,” he says. “But it’s heavier, less flexible and more expensive, especially in Indonesia where bamboo grows with little or no human labor.

“It all comes down to the cost of construction. If you were to ask someone the same question in New Zealand, where bamboo is considered a weed and not used much, you would get a completely different answer.”

Near the school lies the Green Village, a gated residential community with 28 bespoke luxury homes made almost entirely from bamboo, which was conceived to provide accommodation for students and their families, who mostly come from abroad. “Parents need to move to Bali and find a place to live,” says Putu, who conducts twice-weekly tours at the Green Village and like many Indonesians goes by one name.

In 2009, a couple from Singapore commissioned a bamboo home six minutes’ drive from the Green School on the banks of the Ayung River. When their children finished school they converted it into an Airbnb vacation rental property, and most of the other owners of Green Village houses have followed suit. The largest and most expensive to rent — at $1,225 per night — is Sharma Springs, a six-story bamboo mansion.

Top and bottom: Sharma Springs, a six-story bamboo mansion in the Green Village gated community, offers breathtaking valley views for those willing to pay $1,225 per night. (Photos by Suta Rahady)

Guests enter via a land bridge — a large tube made from white and black bamboo that leads to the front door. On the other side are a lounge, a dining room, an office, a children’s playroom, a media room and a large balcony with breathtaking valley views. A circular bamboo staircase leads down to four large bedrooms furnished with handcrafted bamboo furniture and ensuite bathrooms. The ground floor has a pool that appears to float over the river.

John Hardy, a Canadian who co-founded the Green School and Green Village with his American wife Cynthia, also runs Bambu Indah, a boutique hotel in Sayan, on the outskirts of Ubud, Bali’s spiritual capital. “We’re not actually green; we’re greenish,” says Hardy. “And we’re not even a hotel because hoteliers are conservative. They would never build rooms without walls as we do.”

Accommodation options at Bambu Indah vary from Javanese teak houses to luxury treehouses and bespoke bamboo villas, some without walls. The most unusual is New Moon House, a crescent-shaped one-bedroom villa with a private pool fed by a spring on the bank of a raging river. To get there, guests must use a bamboo elevator chiseled into a cliff, cross a bamboo suspension bridge and skip across a lily pond on steppingstones.

Top and bottom: To get to New Moon House, guests at the Bambu Indah boutique hotel must use a bamboo elevator chiseled into a cliff, cross a bamboo suspension bridge and skip across a lily pond on steppingstones. (Photos by Tom Parker)

New Moon House represents a leap for durable bamboo buildings because it has replaced the weakest link — roofing is usually made from bamboo shingles that must be replaced every five to six years — with copper. One of the planet’s most eco-friendly metals, copper can be recycled almost perpetually without loss of strength. The property’s bathtub, shower and hand basin are also made of copper.

Perched on a cliff overlooking Nyanyi Beach on Bali’s west coast, Luna Beach Club, an entertainment hub with six food and beverage venues, sits with its giant doughnut-shaped roof made of blonde and black bamboo spiraling up and out from a central column.

“The whole thing is like a torus — a giant vortex,” says Charlie Hearn of Inspiral Architecture and Design Studios. “We used basalt rebar to reinforce it and create a composite structure. It’s the first time it has been done anywhere in the world. And we used bamboo arches, crossing them over for strength.”

Top and bottom: Luna Beach Club, an entertainment hub with six food and beverage venues, features a giant doughnut-shaped roof made of blonde and black bamboo spiraling up and out from a central column. (Photos by Ian Neubauer)

Hearn says bamboo buildings can last as long as those made from bricks and steel. “You need to harvest the bamboo in the right way, properly treat it, and bamboo can’t be exposed to the elements — it has to be covered from the rain,” he says. “But it could last 50 years, though there are already examples of bamboo buildings in Bali that have lasted longer.”

In 2018, Dino Magnatta, a Canadian restaurateur who had holidayed in Bali for decades, found a stunning 1.5-hectare plot of land with a rambling brook and small waterfalls hidden within the emerald-green rice terraces of Tabanan regency (a local authority area). There he commissioned Hearn to design a sprawling jungle manor made of bamboo.

Then he had second thoughts. “It was way too big for me to live in, so instead of changing the design I said, stuff it, let’s just change its purpose,” he says.

The building is now known as Ulaman Eco Luxury Retreat — a boutique property with 20 bamboo rooms. The most striking are the Sky Villas: three treehouses standing 9 meters above ground level on towers made of woven bamboo. Inside are luxury features such as automated curtains that wind back to present a balcony and dining space.

The Sky Villas at the Ulaman Eco Luxury Retreat stand 9 meters above ground level on towers made of woven bamboo. Inside are luxury features such as automated curtains that wind back to present a balcony and dining space. (Photo by Ian Neubauer)

“Most bamboo hotels are eco-focused and aren’t as comfortable as five-star hotels because they let the outside come in,” Magnatta says. “But our Sky Villas are almost soundproof, something we achieved after adding four layers of insulation. It increased the costs by 25% or 30% but I feel it was important to create that five-star feel.”

Set on the beach at the ultraluxurious Apurva Kempinski resort in Nusa Dua, in southern Bali, the Apurva Chapel was inspired by tongkonan — the name given to the ancestral houses of the Torajan people of Sulawesi in central Indonesia.

An architectural style with distinctive saddleback roofs, built using a tongue-and-groove system without nails, tongkonan take design cues from phinisi, the traditional wooden sailing ships of Indonesia. The flexible and incremental nature of tongkonan architecture allows buildings to be reused and adapted over generations, embodying a sustainable approach to design.

Top and bottom: The Apurva Chapel — built using a tongue-and-groove system without nails — was inspired by

With 250 weddings taking place every year, the chapel is not often empty, especially in the afternoons, when the light in Bali is romantic and dreamy. When I visited, it looked like a giant wave. My guide, Helen, who comes from Sulawesi, said it reminded her of a whale.

Architect-designed bamboo buildings are both novel and proof of their owners’ green credentials. But they do need constant repair and maintenance, as the chapel demonstrates.

“We redid part of the structure of the chapel at the start of this year — only five years after it was built — and because it’s so exposed to the sea, wind and sand, we need to repair it twice a year,” says Vincent Guironnet, Bali general manager for the Kempinski Hotels group.

Bamboo as a construction material may not be the game changer that some had hoped for, and, as the Kempinski and others who have invested in it have learned, it requires much more maintenance than cement or steel. But its sustainability credentials are solid and when complimented with great design, offer many advantages, including visuals. “We are normally booked out weeks in advance, and I’d say 80% of our success is because of our use of bamboo,” says Guironnet.

Top 5 bamboo structures in Bali

The Arc at the Green School

One of the world’s largest bamboo buildings, the Arc was made from 19-meter-long interconnected bamboo arches — a “grid shell” structure that derives strength from curving in two opposing directions.

Sharma Springs at the Green Village

Some claim it is the tallest bamboo building in the world. This six-story mansion on the banks of Bali’s holy Ayung River is reached through a tubular bridge made from black and white bamboo.

New Moon House at Bambu Indah

This crescent-shaped villa represents a great leap forward in bamboo architecture. It replaces the weakest link — roofing made from bamboo shingles that must be replaced every five to six years — with copper, an environmentally sustainable metal.

Luna Restaurant at Restaurant 369

Like something out of a Disney jungle animation, Restaurant 369 is set around a giant vortex that spirals up and out from a central column modeled on the banyan tree, which is holy in Bali. The furniture, midcentury-tropical, is all bespoke and handmade from hardwood and bamboo.

Apurva Chapel at Apurva Kempinski Bali

Shaped like a whale with 12-meter-high bamboo arches, this glass-fronted chapel was built using a tongue-and-groove system that makes nails redundant — offering a more sustainable approach to construction and design.