16/12/2019
The new Library and Research Centre at Laurie Baker Centre for Habitat Studies (LBC) uses bamboo, which is resilient, easily available and cheap compared to conventional building materials. The four-storeyed reinforced concrete-framed building has walls and slabs made of bamboo and mud. It is expected that the building will address misconceptions about bamboo and help popularise it as a viable, eco-friendly alternative to brick and concrete in construction. Bamboo has numerous other advantages as a construction material. It helps in the fight against global warming. The construction sector and high-energy materials like cement, steel, etc. are responsible for large scale carbon emissions. Bamboo, on the other hand, sequesters carbon dioxide. It is a renewable building material with accelerated growth, maturing in six years. Moreover, the procurement of bamboo directly benefits the local tribal people; its processing creates local employment. In using bamboo, LBC is actively taking forward the philosophy of Laurie Baker a lifelong advocate of cost-effective, energy-efficient, people- and environment-friendly construction practices.
