Building A Sustainable Bamboo Industry In Uganda

The strength, growth rate, and similarities with wood timber make it an interesting resource for the built environment. As we are convinced of the qualities of bamboo we aim to make bamboo a prominent material in our designs.

We got the chance to work with bamboo in Uganda. Across the street from the building site of one of the national teacher colleges we were commissioned to design was an impressive bamboo forest. We recommended that we use this bamboo to build the project. The client was easily convinced to do an experiment and build the proposed study shades out of bamboo.

As deforestation is a big problem in Uganda substituting bamboo for hardwood has important value. The whole campus is renovated with the same design principles that focus on what mother earth provides us with: we tuned in on the main wind direction, the path of the sun during the day, and the local materials to make an optimal design that needs minimal use of installations. The campus is now in balance with its environment.

The first use of bamboo in this project inspired us and many other people around us. We kept on receiving questions for other projects with bamboo. It lets our office explore a new path. In its natural environment bamboo is an important player in the balance of its ecosystem. Regenerating degraded lands is even possible. The next step is balancing the built environment.

We have quite a big group of bamboo enthusiasts around us in Uganda. Together we formed a new collaboration named: Bamboo Uganda. With an active department of INBAR and a government supporting farming bamboo, we had a good start. The bamboo industry was slowly growing but it mainly focused on small handicrafts.

Together with Bamboo Uganda, we decided to work on setting up the industry for round pole construction. We are working on three levels to reach this goal. In the nursery, we are growing seedlings to be sure of a strong raw material. The factory is creating a market for farmers to sell their mature bamboo poles and at the same time, turn manufactured poles into building materials. Finally, designing and building bamboo structures.

You could compare our approach with a top chef of a fine restaurant that grows his/her own fresh biological herbs and vegetables. By growing our own bamboo and processing them following international high standards into reliable building materials we ensure our clients of a building that is built with high-quality locally grown natural materials that have a positive impact on its environment

Over the past few years, BKVV Architects has been executing several (award-winning) projects in Uganda. In these projects, collaborations were formed with (local) engineers, contractors, clients, the government, NFA, and people from many other disciplines. We have shared our holistic view on building climate-friendly with locally grown natural materials and created an expanding community with a similar green goal.

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Learn more about Sanne’s work in Uganda on The Bamboo U Podcast
Sanne is a Bamboo U Alumni, she joined both our online course and the 11 Day Course in Bali, ready about the model she created during the online course: https://bamboou.com/a-bamboo-center-in-uganda/