The CO2 Bambu team moves on from el estudio de bambu to RAAN

With a strategic contract in hand, CO2 Bambu is now focused on the execution of some 84 houses in RAAN. Suddenly, there is a tsunami of activities, starting with the construction of a new factory (in bamboo of course), the organization of a supply chain of both bamboo items and traditional construction materials, and the hire of some 25 workers from the communities, for factory work and field assembly.

So before, our Granada-based team rushes off to their new home in Rosita, we asked some of the guys to tell us what part of the studio they liked most – with a caveat that they could only choose from elements of the house that they personally worked on.

So here are our (justifiably) proud builders…

Here Luciano is with the kitchen counter, in rustic laminates. However, his “masterpiece” in this house was the bathtub, constructed with stones we collected from several Pacific Coast beaches. Luciano really “got” the artistic feel we wanted to arrive at. Here, the bathtub was “claimed” by his ayudante (helper).

Jorge had the tedious, tedious work of connecting a zillion bamboo rings that hold together with tiny bamboo pins to create two gates for the downstairs. A painstaking work, but we love the result.

The false ceiling over the kitchen area, that hides all sorts of tubing, was a favorite too…

Danillo is one of our most skilled carpenters. Here, on the bamboo laminate flooring which we built in the factory, but which he assembled on site.

The front of the house presented some unique challenges, first because of the high wire act of balancing on scaffold + ladder on tiny sliver of wood + tools that didn’t reach the full height etc… But the most challenging was the part where I sought to get to an asymetrical design to give a wink at bamboo growing in the wild. It looks great now (I think), but it was a real cultural challenge to get the guys to put up the split bamboo in what seemed to them to be completely bizarre. Now, everyone likes the final look.