flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

A school’s sports hall is created entirely from bamboo

Green

A school’s sports hall is created entirely from bamboo

The building boasts a zero-carbon footprint and is naturally ventilated.


By David Malone, Associate Editor | August 11, 2017
The inside of the Panyaden International School sports hall

Photo: Alberto Cosi, Courtesy of Chiangmai Life Construction and Panyaden International School

Panyaden International School in Thailand was in need of a bigger assembly space and an indoor sports facility that would keep students from getting wet in the rainy season and keep them cool on hot summer days.

The project, designed by Chiangmai Life Construction, provides space for futsal, volleyball, basketball, and badminton as well as a stage. In addition to the standard size courts there are also game lines for three smaller mini-volleyball and badminton practice courts for younger students.

But it isn’t the space that makes the building unique, or the fact that its overall design resembles a rebel trooper’s helmet from Star Wars (the architect says the design concept originated from the lotus flower, which is a nod to the school’s Buddhist values). What makes the building unique are the materials used to create it. Or, more specifically, the material used to create it.

 

An exterior shot of the Panyaden International School sports hallPhoto courtesy of Chiangmai Life Construction.

 

The entire 8,417-sf structure was created from bamboo. Spans of 15 meters were created with bamboo trusses that were pre-built on the floor and lifted into place by crane. These 15-meter spans, with equal height, were created without any steel reinforcements. Two engineers calculated the loads, tensions, and sheer forces in order to design and build the structure according to 21st century engineering practices. The building can withstand high-speed winds and earthquakes.

The space is naturally ventilated and lit through openings between the three-layered roof. Adding to the project’s core mission of creating a green building, a zero-carbon footprint was achieved due to the bamboo absorbing more carbon than what was emitted during treatment, transport, and construction.

For more images, click here.

Related Stories

| Feb 15, 2012

Code allowance offers retailers and commercial building owners increased energy savings and reduced construction costs

Specifying air curtains as energy-saving, cost-cutting alternatives to vestibules in 3,000-square-foot buildings and larger has been a recent trend among consulting engineers and architects.

| Feb 8, 2012

World’s tallest solar PV-installation

The solar array is at the elevation of 737 feet, making the building the tallest in the world with a solar PV-installation on its roof.

| Jan 31, 2012

Chapman Construction/Design: ‘Sustainability is part of everything we do’

Chapman Construction/Design builds a working culture around sustainability—for its clients, and for its employees.

| Jan 19, 2012

LEED puts the 'Gold' in Riverside golden arches

McDonald's restaurant recognized for significant energy savings.

| Jan 15, 2012

Hollister Construction Services oversees interior office fit-out for Harding Loevner

The work includes constructing open space areas, new conference, trading and training rooms, along with multiple kitchenettes. 

| Jan 15, 2012

Smith Consulting Architects designs Flower Hill Promenade expansion in Del Mar, Calif.

The $22 million expansion includes a 75,000-square-foot, two-story retail/office building and a 397-car parking structure, along with parking and circulation improvements and new landscaping throughout.

| Jan 9, 2012

Thornton Tomasetti acquires green consulting firm Fore Solutions

International engineering firm launches new building sustainability practice.

| Jan 6, 2012

Summit Design+Build completes Park Place in Illinois

Summit was responsible for the complete gut and renovation of the former auto repair shop which required the partial demolition of the existing building, while maintaining the integrity of the original 100 year-old structure, and significant re-grading and landscaping of the site.

| Jan 4, 2012

Shawmut Design & Construction awarded dorm renovations at Brown University

Construction is scheduled to begin in June 2012, and will be completed by December 2012.

| Dec 12, 2011

Skanska to expand and renovate hospital in Georgia for $103 Million

The expansion includes a four-story, 17,500 square meters clinical services building and a five-story, 15,700 square meters, medical office building. Skanska will also renovate the main hospital.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category

Sustainable Design and Construction

Northglenn, a Denver suburb, opens a net zero, all-electric city hall with a mass timber structure

Northglenn, Colo., a Denver suburb, has opened the new Northglenn City Hall—a net zero, fully electric building with a mass timber structure. The 32,600-sf, $33.7 million building houses 60 city staffers. Designed by Anderson Mason Dale Architects, Northglenn City Hall is set to become the first municipal building in Colorado, and one of the first in the country, to achieve the Core certification: a green building rating system overseen by the International Living Future Institute.




halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021