BB Home

Storms, floods and landslides take hundreds of lives in the country each year and destroy property worth more than a percent of GDP. The Blooming Bamboo home offers housing for the millions living with these risks.

Built from bamboo modules of two diameters, 3.3 or 6.6 metres long, it is assembled by bolting, tying, hanging and placing, and the resulting frame can withstand floods 1.5 metres high, with tests under way for three metres. It can serve as a house, school, clinic or community centre and grow as needed.

The cover is finished with local materials, small bamboo, wattle, fibreboard or coconut leaves, to suit each climate. Families can build it themselves in 25 days, and it can be produced in modules for about 2,500 dollars.