Images: Yaseera Moosa

Designers: Steve Szell & Hunter Eccleston

​

The 4th bamboo installation by the DUB designers at QUT was my first involvement as one of the build co-ordinators. Working togeter with other DUB members, we were able to design this passage way which featured in the Asia Pacific Architectural forum alongside works by Vo trong Nghia amd Richard Hassell. 

​

The bamboo used in this build was the largest we had used and the most mature aswell. The harvest was very challenging, with limited volunteers to help cut down the 150mm diamter poles which stood approximately 18m tall. There were a lot of chainsaws getting stuck in poles. A very rigurous harvest was followed by an even more riguorus build. The build ran into many constraints such as trying to gather funds from crowd-funding campaigns, wet weather, a limited timeline, and getting volunteer help. Although these hurdles came up, at the end they were overcome and the buid was the best we have done yet. It was also the longest standing installation, as it was up for about 6.5 months. The great thing with the project was that other students were able to get involved and learn about the use of bamboo as a sustainable alternative building material. The bamboo was reused after its life at QUT as a temporary installation for another festival. 

​

The design speaks for itself as a key connecting feature across a large grass area on the QUT campus.