Cool Spaces: The Arc at Green School in Bali

WORDS Michaela Stehr IMAGES Tommaso Riva 

The Arc at Green School in Bali features an impressive undulating bamboo roof designed by local studio Ibuku.

Used to educate children up until the secondary phase, the school was founded by John and Cynthia Hardy in 2006 and has a strong focus on sustainability, from an educational and architectural stance. The Arc brings this value into the school’s design, created by local architecture studio Ibuku. Headed by Elora Hardy, the structure brings a fresh and creative element to the education centre while using smart and eco-friendly planning and materials.

The pioneering bamboo roof protects the school’s gym and wellness space. The light and dynamic materials (available in abundance) create a safe, sturdy and aesthetically pleasing structure that mirrors the visual of a boat’s billowing sails through a repetitive undulating pattern.

Ibuku explained the design as follows, “a series of intersecting 14m-tall bamboo arches spanning 19m, interconnected by anticlastic gridshells that derive their strength from curving in two opposite directions.” The project was executed in collaboration with German carpentry specialist Jörg Stamm and structural engineers Atelier One.

The result is a prime example of ecological and sustainable architecture working together with nature and geometry.

(h/t) wallpaper.com