
2 minute read
Sunstainability
year 2015
Eco-construction with ARKITREK:
Advertisement
Self construction of rural lodge with local materials for sustainable tourism in Kiulu Valley, Borneo.

During three months I worked together with 11 more volunteers with Arkitrek in Kiulu Valley, Malaysia, to design and build up a small self-sufficient lodge on the principles of sustainability. It would become the first stage of a midterm plan to boost Kiulu valley as a favorable tourism destination.

The team pioneered a new method of construction using a sacrificial bamboo frame cast into a permanent biocrete wall. Biocrete takes 6 months to fully cure and bamboo starts to get eaten by wood borers after 3-6 months.

It was also a new step on Arkitrekk’s line of investigation on biocrete and how it behaves with different fiber materials, in cooperation with bamboo, etc.

Biocrete is made of waste rice husks from the village. It naturally cools the building through evaporation of moisture.


Local bamboo was used entirely in the primary structure above floor level. Silou (split bamboo) is used as formwork, which further enhances the traditional look of the building, being at the same time a sustainable alternative to plywood or plasterboard.

Coordinating: Ian Hall
Amazing team: Toni White, Calum Rennie, Peter Thatcher, Hannah Chisholm, Avril Bennie, Martina Manna, Low Pey Sien, Rory Dickens, Gabriella Harkness, Beth Day, Catrin Spinner, Mónica Ruiz Rituerto
location: Kiulu Valley, Sabah, Malaysia
