Is the traffic in Bali getting worse? Once again I find myself behind an overloaded truck, bouncing over the pot holes and in the process, making them just a little bit worse. The truck is full of sand, on its way no doubt to make another concrete villa. It reminded me of building my own house, just a few years ago and being consistently horrified at just how many truckloads of sand, gravel and cement were consumed week after week during the construction.
Being behind a slow moving truck does have an advantage. It lets you look at the countryside, the houses and people in the villages. Sometimes the houses are as beautiful as the people, but all too often they are ugly square boxes built with battleship grey Batako blocks that seem to lack any sort of redeeming feature. Looking back in time, the Balinese used to build with bamboo, and there are still some lovely examples of bamboo houses, mainly in the mountains. Bamboo was so ubiquitous in Asia that a thousand years ago, Su Dungpo, a Chinese poet wrote: “We cannot live without bamboo for a single day”. Bamboo was used for everything from transportation (rafts and boats) to housing, furniture, musical instruments, paper, food and even medicine.
The Balinese stopped building with bamboo mainly because the houses required maintenance as the bamboo was damaged by insects – termites and beetles – and by the weather. It’s probably also true to say that they were influenced by Westerners building cement houses and hotels and thinking that was a better, more fashionable way of doing things. Consequently, beautiful walks and drives in the Balinese countryside are interrupted at increasing frequency by rectangular grey structures – large ones built to Western budgets and tastes (you know what I mean) and small ones to meet housing needs for new Balinese families. If this continues unchecked, the very thing that brings us foreigners here to Bali will gradually disappear as more of us arrive.
The move away from traditional buildings is a shame because using bamboo has a lot of advantages to offer, both to the home owner and the rest of us. Bamboo’s green credentials come largely from its ability to sequester i.e. lock up, carbon that was floating around the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas. It can do this much faster than a tree because a bamboo pole can grow to be full size and harvested in 4 years, where a hardwood tree may take 25 or even 50 years. It has other benefits too. Because bamboo is a grass, it re-grows instantly after harvesting maintaining its root system and that means it continues to prevent soil erosion and doesn’t require tedious and costly replanting. And it can even help with Bali’s leaky septic tanks which are threatening to spoil the well water many of us use. Due to its high nitrogen, phosphorous and heavy metals consumption, its roots suck up wastewater from manufacturing, livestock farming and sewage that would otherwise end up in the water table or the river.
But the real advantage of bamboo is that it is, unquestionably sustainable. With timber there is often a worry that it has not really come from a plantation but from the rainforest. I’ve had enough dubious looks from visitors while I explain about FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council) timber to make me feel I am wasting my breath. Bamboo is green, any which way you look at it.
Many people think of bamboo as a lightweight material with thin poles that break easily. While there are species like this, many others have properties more suitable for building. The bamboo species Petung has usable poles nearly 20 meters long and 18 centimeters diameter and at the base more solid than hollow. This bamboo has twice the compression strength of concrete and a similar strength to weight ratio as steel. This makes for a very versatile building material. The density of bamboo is surprising too; planks made from mature bamboo split into flat strips have the strength and hardness equivalent to teak. These qualities combined with its inherent flexibility make it probably the most secure building material for dealing with earthquakes and high winds. Where concrete cracks and steel twists, bamboo sways with the same natural flexibility that allow its fibers may be made into fabric.
However, these points are all moot unless the building can be made to last. Fortunately circumstances have changed now with new technology coming to our aid. Thanks to pioneering work by Linda Garland, a naturally occurring salt called Borax is now widely used to treat the bamboo. Bamboo properly impregnated with Borax then has a lifetime protection against all boring creatures. Innovative designs can also protect the bamboo from the effects of UV rays and heavy rain which can combine to cause the bamboo to discolor, crack and deteriorate. This means bamboo housing is now a realistic opportunity for westerners looking to build in Bali. A well designed home built from properly treated bamboo should outlast its owner. It is cost effective, practical and with the right designer, a really beautiful and sustainable way to make a home that also helps the planet.
Being a natural skeptic, I questioned this proposition from every angle I could think of and found no hole in the argument. And so it was that I decided to build a bamboo house on my property. What a joy to watch it’s rise into the sky. No sound of concrete mixers, no truck loads of sand and gravel on the drive, no mess of spilt cement on the garden. Just beautiful bamboo poles curving their way upwards, the occasional sound of a saw, drill or hammer and some Balinese craftsmen who looked incredibly proud to be building something so amazing.
I knew beyond doubt it was beautiful before it was started because my architect had made me a lovely scale model. Interestingly, it was constantly referred to by the artisans during construction to ensure they kept true to the designer’s vision. The building was a pure delight, and it was almost a disappointment when the roof went on as I lost sight – from the outside at least – of this beautiful bamboo frame for my new house. Finishing it was exciting too. Some bamboo species have a natural black skin – more a dark chocolate colour really – and this was used for the floor to give a contrast to the natural blond of the rest of the building. Bamboo may also be used to make roof shingles although I decided to have alang-alang to match the other buildings on the land. Walls were made from Pancing – Fishing Rod – Bamboo which is a different colour again, this time a dark tan.
The key to great bamboo structures is a designer that understands how to use it. Unlike steel and timber, it can bend and that means the shape can utilize beautiful curves. Simply put, a well designed bamboo building is more like a woman where concrete and steel buildings are like men.
When it was completed, I excitedly looked forward to my first night’s sleep and wondered what it would be like. The anticipation was not in vain as the experience turned out to be amazing. The building makes you feel like you are part of it. Sounds are absorbed rather than reflected and the building moves just a millimeter or two giving just the hint of the feeling of being in a tree house. The view into my garden is great but the inside of the building is just as beautiful. Perhaps the most fun part of the house is having friends round to look it and overseas guests to come and stay. The feedback so far is overwhelmingly positive, and whilst recognising that bamboo houses are not for everybody, its logic and fit with those people who thrive in Bali is a good one. There is one last feature that makes bamboo a great choice for those building on leased land. At the end of the lease, a properly constructed bamboo house can be dismantled and taken somewhere else or sold. Try doing that with a concrete box.
I don’t know how many readers are old enough to remember Victor Kiam in the 1980’s saying of his Remington razor, “I liked it so much, I bought the company”. Well I didn’t buy the company that built my bamboo house but I did decide to join it to lead their marketing and sales effort. The goal – to make bamboo houses fashionable again. And the story to date is – so far so good. Unlike however, my progress behind the yellow truck that is coughing black smoke as it meanders up the road, towards its grey rectangular destination.
