 |
| The Cubo house takes four weeks to manufacture and four hours to assemble on site, costing $US77 per square metre |
A 100 square metre "Cubo" (=1,000 sq ft, or 10 squares), would come in at just under $US8,000. Super cheap.
Bamboo is a great material. We grow it in our yard and have used it to make benches and bread boards. I looked at building a bamboo bike, until I realised I already had too many bikes.
Bamboo ought to be used more on boats, sailing yachts, like for flooring below decks or on decks instead of teak.
It's quick growing, has greater tensile strength than steel and produces 35% more oxygen than trees. And completely renewable.
Wonder material.
In Hong Kong and China it's famously used as scaffolding: lighter, stronger and more environmentally friendly than steel scaffolding. I've often wondered why the rest of the world doesn't use it and guess it's down to "elf 'n safety", innit?
The Chinese character for bamboo is a nice little pictogram of bamboo stalks: 竹. Pronounced "zhu", second tone.
Earl is going to build more bamboo Cubos north of Manila.
Well done Earl!
Forlales' house could be manufactured in a week, constructed in four hours and costs £60 per square metre. Its use of bamboo – which releases 35 per cent more oxygen into the environment than trees – was praised by the judges. The ability of the houses to be constructed in any bamboo-producing area was one of the key attractions.
********
