Emotional Shelter

We were invited by Here Studio and VDD to provide technical advice and assist in the construction of the project. In the words of Here Studio the design is a shelter “that provides emotional preparation, relief and recovery through the greatest social interaction: play!”. This idea of play is depicted in form of a playful cat.

The cat shaped design required us to completely re- think how the structure can be built with bamboo. After exploring a range of options we decided to use laminated bamboo strips as the main structural element. The main structural ribs of the shelter are made from laminated bamboo strips that are held together using sisal rope and bamboo pins – no glue is used in the manufacturing. In addition to bamboo the shelter uses recycled corrugated metal roofing, bicycle rubber tubes, timber pallets and sisal rope.

The shelter was made with the help of about 60 volunteers. Participants learnt how to make bamboo strips, clean the strips and shape them into curved beams.