Giant bamboo arches shield Haduwa Arts & Culture Institute from the sun

Along the Atlantic coastline of Ghana’s Central Area in Apam, Vienna-based mostly, trans-disciplinary lab [applied] International Affairs has intended and erected a big bamboo dome for the Haduwa Arts & Culture Institute, an open establishment for artists and cultural practitioners from Africa and Europe. The massive-scale venture, which was built together with regional authorities and locals, serves as a multipurpose stage. The experimental composition was made with ‘Bambusa vulgaris,’ a person of the few species of bamboo accessible in Ghana that can be applied for development.

Designed to serve as a beacon of bamboo architecture in Ghana, the Haduwa Arts & Tradition Institute phase attributes a grid shell built principally of bamboo. “Constructing with bamboo is also intended to foster the popularity of sustainable architecture in Ghana,” the architects discussed. The project’s bamboo guide, Jörg Stamm, adds that the intention of the venture is “to place Ghana on the environment map of bamboo.”

Connected: University student models inflatable bamboo greenhouses for sustainable farming

To that end, bamboo was applied for both equally the primary structural factors and the joinery. Thousands of bamboo nails ended up created — alternatively of steel elements that can corrode in salty disorders — and utilized to be part of jointly bamboo arches, the culms of which were being treated with borax. The moment the major composition was erected, the designers lined it with a resilient “skin” resistant to solid wind forces that also guards the structure from tropical rains and the intense sunlight.

Established near to the water, the Haduwa Arts & Society Institute phase will take benefit of cooling ocean breezes. The bamboo roof connects a rammed earth stage on the south facet with a concrete plinth to the north. The internet site also contains a wood deck, a café, a lounge and entrances to the beach. The open up nature of the phase enables for a assortment of seating configurations. 

+ [applied] Foreign Affairs

Pictures by Julien Lanoo