DESPITE the common perception of bamboo being a poor man’s go to for construction, structures constructed from bamboo are cyclone resilient and earthquake proof, says Construction Industry Council president and director Orton Architect Jon Orton.
Additionally, bamboo construction would be about 20 to 25 per cent cheaper than concrete block construction
Mr Orton is one of the participants at the EXTRA Fiji Architecture Conference and Trade Exhibition at the Sheraton Fiji Golf and Beach Resort in Denarau, Nadi from November 14-15.
“So that’s what we’re trying to bring into Fiji at the moment. The government architect is working with that, we have GGGI (Global Green Growth Institute) who are promoting it,” he said.
Mr Orton said the Minister for Trade, government architects and a whole consortium of people are working together to put the standards in place.
Once these standards have been established, they would then be forward as an appendix to the National Building Code and used, however, this would first need engineering approval
Mr Orton said the council was looking at the low cost housing sector and had been having discussions with key stakeholders regarding this.
“We had a meeting on Tuesday with the chairman of the Housing Authority. He said that it would be about $1300 a square metre to build at that level. Whereas with the bamboo construction, which has precast or prefabricated cement panels, we would be looking at probably about $700 to $800 a square metre. So that’s a massive difference.
“I think if we can show that we can give attractive housing, whether it be low-cost housing or high-end housing, I think that’s going to be the selling point. So that’s why we need the architectural expertise to do that.”
Mr Orton said the government would then focus on the delivery system for the bamboo and how people would buy houses constructed from it.
