Award-Winning Bamboo Architecture and Green Construction

By Bamboo Grove on March 14, 2021

The prestigious Yuan Ye Awards in China is a decades-old institution composed of an elite group of jurors who are considered to be the world’s leading experts in the area of architecture and design. This year, these scholars sifted through approximately 1,000 applications and entries throughout 20 professional fields and determined that Vedana, a restaurant tucked away in the northern Ninh Binh province outside Cuc Phuong National Park in Vietnam, would be the granted the grand prize architectural award for its distinctive designs created almost entirely out of sustainable bamboo materials.

This awe-inspiring, 1,050-meter structure features a three-gabled, circular domed roof and sits snugly overlooking an artificial lake created to cool the open-air concept Verdana restaurant and adjoining Vedana Lagoon Resort. Visitors and tourists to the area can enjoy top-of-the-line accommodations including a variety of bungalows, condotels, and private, cozy villas, as well as breathtaking views of the Annamite Mountain Range and the surrounding luscious forests, valleys, and wildlife of the Cuc Phuong National Park.

There are an abundance of benefits to using sustainable resources such bamboo in architecture. The current popular woods and textiles on the market today can typically take between 20-60 years to fully mature for manufacturing, whereas most species of bamboo are ready for harvest after only 3-6 years. A few quick-growth species can even reach full growth in just two short months. Additionally, bamboo plants:

• Absorb harmful greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide
• Prevent soil erosion for nearby crops and communities
• Do not require any herbicides, pesticides, or fertilizers for growth
• Can be cultivated and grown in almost all climates and terrain
• Promote trade between diverse cultures and countries
• Provides economic benefits and stability in less-developed lands

Due to increased deforestation and continued climate change over the years, the world has been desperately searching for new sustainable agricultural options and it seems that the diversity and renewability of bamboo fits quite nicely into that category. The hope is that once mega-businesses and major manufacturers get onboard with bamboo, the closer we’ll be to protecting the planet and conserving the environment for generations to come.