Ibuku’s incredible bamboo structure creates an idyllic yoga & wellness centre in Bali
The incredible use of bamboo has placed Ibuku, founded just over ten years ago by designer Elora Hardy as one of the worlds most pioneering architectural studies using the material.
The newly completed and revelaed Alchemy Yoga and Meditation Centre in Ubud in one of Indonesia’s main tourist hubs of south-eastern Bali and rich in cultural heritage and diverse ecological and geographic landscapes is the studios latest and impressive showcase.
Built on a smooth, circular foundation made of timber and llaid with bamboo arches, The Alchemy Yoga and Meditation Center has a form carefully embedded into this Balinese landscape. The studio worked with local craftsmen, relying on their expertise of sorting between shades of black and brown, to select each individual pole forming the arches suitable for the structure.
Whilst the repeated structural elements allow for efficiency in construction, the studio still introduced playful asymmetries, aiming to balance a design language that remains sensitive to yoga practices and harmonious to the interior experience of the structure. The top exterior copper shingle skin is handcrafted, with highly skilled artisans shaping each angle of bends and the curves of the edges.
Ibuku has an extensive history of collaborating with local artisans, and local education and research enterprise Bamboo U, contributing to an innovative culture of new and future bamboo vernaculars.
Its design methods and the efficiency in bamboo construction has enabled the studio to complete over 200 such projects in the last decade alone.
