Architecture studio HTL Africa has designed a pavilion using crisscrossing bamboo poles and woven raffia mats in Lagos, Nigeria. The Site Office pavilion was initially installed at the Ecobank Pan African Centre on Victoria Island for the inaugural Ecobank Design and Build Expo in November. It will now serve as a community reading room.
The structure highlights the potential of bamboo, a common material in Nigerian construction, as a sustainable and innovative architectural element. Bamboo scaffolding is typically used on small-scale construction projects in rural areas but often discarded after use. HTL Africa aimed to reimagine bamboo as a lasting architectural feature.
“We wanted to highlight bamboo scaffolding’s quiet yet vital contribution to modern architecture,” said James Inedu-George, Founder and Head of Design at HTL Africa. The pavilion showcases bamboo’s potential in creating structures that are built to last.
The design features a three-dimensional lattice of bamboo rods pinned and tied together. Plywood boards provide an entrance portal, a first-floor mezzanine, the staircase, and a built-in bench seat. Circular raffia mats hang down in the grid gaps, providing shade and decoration.
Image Courtesy: dezeen.com
