Jardim da Glória

Project details

Design

ARX

Landscape Architect

NPK – José Veludo

Project developer

Stone Capital / Realmur / Estrela da Memória

Photography

Francisco Nogueira

Location

Lisbon, Portugal

Featured products

Bamboo X‑treme Beams

As a natural building material, bamboo brings the natural character of the surroundings into residential buildings

The complex comprises five buildings and extensive outdoor grounds. To realise the vision of an oasis of tranquillity surrounded by nature, the development has, since its completion, combined lush greenery, an orchard, communal gardens, playground, spa and swimming pool with the residential buildings. The noise and hustle and bustle of the city are largely left behind as soon as you enter the grounds.

The residential blocks form the very heart of the housing complex. A total of 40 flats have been created as part of the redevelopment. By using warm, natural building materials, the architects have succeeded in extending the nature-inspired character of the outdoor spaces into the buildings and their interiors. In particular, the use of outdoor bamboo beams to design the building façades and the balcony railings reinforces this approach.

High quality meets sustainability

MOSO^® Bamboo, the market leader in sustainable bamboo building materials, manufactures its bamboo beams from Moso bamboo, the world’s fastest-growing plant. Thanks to thermal treatment at 200 degrees Celsius and subsequent high-density compression of the bamboo strips during production, the beams are extremely stable, durable and have a natural brown hue. Unlike other materials intended for outdoor use, no harmful chemical additives, such as fungicides, are required. Regular after-treatment or maintenance of the bamboo materials is not necessary. And thanks to the special production process, the beams achieve the highest durability class and the European fire safety class B-s1-d0.

High fire resistance rating has led to a switch from softwood to bamboo beams

This high fire resistance class was a key factor in the choice of the bamboo outdoor beams. “Initially, the architects had planned to use softwood,” recalls Pedro Neto, Regional Sales Manager at MOSO^® Bamboo. “However, the requirement for fire resistance class B for use on the buildings led to further research, and the architects turned to us. The sustainability of our products, which allow the natural feel of the buildings to be carried through, was another factor that won them over.” The beams also offer plenty of creative freedom, a bonus for any architect. A total of 63,782 running metres of outdoor beams were used for the Jardim da Glória project.

Bamboo has the potential to be a sustainable building material of the future

As well as its low carbon footprint, one of the particular advantages of bamboo is its exceptionally high annual yield. Certain species of giant bamboo can produce two to three times as much material per hectare per year as fast-growing timber. This takes additional pressure off forests and fossil resources. Through specialised processing, such as that developed by MOSO^® Bamboo, bamboo is transformed into a material that is more durable than tropical timber and has the potential to be the building material of the future.