Workshops
An inexpensive way to get a bamboo structure, whether it’s for your school, community project or back yard, is to run a workshop. Participants pay to come and learn many things about bamboo, including harvesting, curing, management, treatment, joinery, construction methods, and more. In a weekend we can build a small structure, dependant on how many people come. Contact Donnie to discuss the possibilities.
Bamboo Yurt at Bellingen community gardens.
We built this bamboo yurt in one weekend with about 20 people. The roof cover is 3 layers with rendered geofabric on the outside. It is fixed to metal stirrups which we set in place once the yurt was ready. To protect the wall frames from the elements, they will need to be coated once the bamboo has dried, or covered with more rendered geofabric or other weatherproof material.
Bamboo Bhatak at Cutloose Bamboo Nursery
The Bhatak has its origins in Sumatra. We built this one at a weekend workshop. Once again, the legs will need a protective coating against the weather. The Bhatak naturally lends itself to having a loft in each end and has been shown in wind tunnel test to be very strong against winds as the vortexes caused by the peaks press the roof down, rather than lifting it off.
Bamboo Yurt at Crystal Waters Community
Another weekend workshop. This yurt is to be used for people to have their stalls in at the monthly market held here. It is 6 metres in diameter.
Chrysalis Steiner School, Thora.
This is a small bhatak, about 2m x3m. It was not actually built at a workshop, but gives an idea of the sort of structures that can be done in a weekend with a good crew. It was built as a cubby house for the kids and later, when they wanted to move it, it was disconnected from the hardwood floor and simply carried up the hill by half a dozen people.