The Small Project of the Year was awarded to The Chinese University of Hong Kong School of Architecture for its ZCB Bamboo Pavilion project at the World Architecture Festival. The public event space was built for the Construction Industry Council (CIC)’s Zero Carbon Building (ZCB) in the summer of 2015 in Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong. 

It is a four-storey-high, 37 metre spanning, bamboo gridshell structure with a usable area of approximately 350m2 and a seating capacity of 200 people, placed in the ZCB Garden Area. It is built from 473 large bamboo poles that are bent onsite to shape the structure and that are hand-tied together with metal wire using techniques based on Cantonese bamboo scaffolding craftsmanship. 

Recognised by judges as ''an excellent architectural outcome'' the project was commended as a ''brilliant example of cutting edge simulation and modelling combined with delightful traditional craft and skill.''

Bamboo is an environmentally friendly renewable natural resource that is regionally widely available. It is strong, light and easy to process and transport. In Hong Kong’s construction bamboo mostly appears in temporary scaffolding or festival structures. 

Globally it is usually applied as surrogate for wood or steel, rather than in ways that utilise the material’s unique bending properties and strength. In contrast, the ZCB Bamboo Pavilion maximise this latent material property.

The project is built from 473 large natural bamboo poles, bent onsite to shape the structure. They are hand-tied together with metal wire using techniques based on century-old traditional Cantonese bamboo scaffolding craftsmanship. 

The pavilion is a large diagrid shell structure that is folded down into three hollow columns. These columns rest on three circular concrete footings. A tailor-made white tensile fabric is stretched over the structure and is brightly lit from inside the three legs.

Building the project challenged the boundaries of the architect’s design control. Bamboo has widely varying geometric, dimensional, and performative properties, and the scaffolding industry does not use conventional architectural drawings for its intuitive constructions. 

To deal with these unpredictabilities, new methods were developed that merged precise digital design and simulation systems with inconsistent natural resources. Through the introduction of digital form-finding and real-time physics simulation tools, the project showcases how the endangered craftsmanship of Bamboo Scaffolding Construction in Hong Kong can evolve for the 21st century.

Last year, Small Project of the Year was given to Lidingövallen Small Football Stadium in Sweden designed by DinellJohansson. The project features stands, offices and a coffee shop. The studio gave them all in one. A stand on a building. A stand with offices and coffee underneath, and a central entrance where football and city can meet. A meeting point for everyone.

World Architecture Community is an official media partner for World Architecture Festival and INSIDE, which ended up on Friday at the Arena Berlin, in Germany.

All images courtesy of WAF

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