Cover A bamboo architecture resort's domed bar overlooking the Sayan Ridge at Bambu Indah, its shingled roof echoing traditional Balinese thatch (Photo: Bambu Indah)
A bamboo architecture resort's domed bar overlooking the Sayan Ridge at Bambu Indah, its shingled roof echoing traditional Balinese thatch (Photo: Bambu Indah)
1 / 1
From a 30,000-piece bamboo island in Indonesia to Mexican treehouses shaped after migrating rays these five bamboo architecture resorts are built from one of the world’s oldest construction materials
Bamboo has framed houses across the tropics for centuries, long before it appeared in a hospitality brochure. It holds up the stilt houses of the Mekong Delta, the granaries of Java, and vernacular buildings throughout equatorial regions wherever the material grows: fast, cheap, and resilient against storms and humidity in ways few alternatives can match. What has shifted in recent decades is scale and geography. A number of specialist architects and studios now design entire bamboo architecture resorts far beyond the material’s traditional heartlands, from private Indonesian islands to the Mexican Pacific coast, drawing on techniques passed down by local builders and, in several cases, working alongside those craftsmen directly.
The five resorts that follow range from a shell-shaped villa in Bali to a beachfront resort in Vietnam held together with mud-smoked bamboo rods and hand-tied rope.
Read more: Inside the Qing Suites: how Penang’s Blue Mansion annexe became a heritage hotel
Bambu Indah, Ubud, Bali
Above Inside Bambu Indah's Moon House, its ceiling woven from bamboo in a diamond lattice (Photo: Bambu Indah)
Inside Bambu Indah's Moon House, its ceiling woven from bamboo in a diamond lattice (Photo: Bambu Indah)
1 / 1
Above Bambu Indah’s riverside restaurant at dusk, built above the Ayung River’s spring-fed pools (Photo: Bambu Indah)
Above The New Moon House at Bambu Indah, its curved bamboo shell set among rice terraces (Photo: Bambu Indah)
Bambu Indah’s riverside restaurant at dusk, built above the Ayung River’s spring-fed pools (Photo: Bambu Indah)
1 / 2
Founded in 2008 by John and Cynthia Hardy on the Sayan Ridge above the Ayung River, Bambu Indah combines 100-year-old Javanese teak bridal houses with structures built almost entirely from bamboo. Several of its newer additions, including the Moon House and New Moon House, were designed by John Hardy with his daughter Elora, working with Ibuku, the architecture studio she later founded. Both take the form of a soaring crescent-shaped shell, woven bamboo forming a diamond lattice ceiling overhead.
The Treehouse at Bambu Indah, with its bamboo lattice shell built around a living tree (Photo: Bambu Indah)
1 / 2
The Treehouse is built directly around a living tree, its curved bamboo shell wrapping a canopied bed and an open-air deck suspended in the jungle canopy. Guests reach the property’s natural spring-fed pools via a bamboo elevator, and the riverside restaurant, with bamboo arches and a curved copper-shingled roof designed by Elora Hardy to resemble the work of “an intelligent bird,” sits above the Ayung River rapids. The resort now runs to 24 rooms, including a set of bamboo Nests designed directly by Ibuku.
See also: Meet the Malaysian architect crafting beautiful structures from bamboo
Cempedak Island, Riau Archipelago, Indonesia
Cempedak Island’s cluster of bamboo villas seen from the water, their curved roofs rising above the mangrove canopy along the shoreline
1 / 2
New Zealand-born, Bali-based architect Miles Humphreys spent three years turning an uninhabited 17-hectare island into a resort of 20 bamboo villas, working alongside Indonesian bamboo craftsman Pak Indra and Balinese architect Chiko, who led the design of the resort’s Dodo Bar. Despite its name, the structure takes its form from the cone seashells found on the island’s own beaches, textured with ijuk, a black fibre derived from palm trees so resistant to weather that it’s traditionally used on temple roofs across Indonesia, particularly in Bali.
Above One of Cempedak Island’s bamboo villas seen from above, its thatched roof sweeping open to a private pool and jungle-facing deck
Above Inside a Cempedak Island villa, exposed bamboo trusses and a woven ceiling frame a mosquito-netted bed and open-air balcony over the treetops
One of Cempedak Island’s bamboo villas seen from above, its thatched roof sweeping open to a private pool and jungle-facing deck
1 / 2
The team needed special permission from local authorities to use it. The build used roughly 30,000 individual pieces of bamboo, shipped from Java and Sumatra on 280-foot barges and treated on-site against termites and beetles. There were no paper floor plans; the team worked from small bamboo scale models, then full-size mock-ups, before replicating the final design across all 20 villas. One curved roof ridge beam measures 43 metres and weighs approximately 500 kilograms, formed by splitting and rebinding bamboo lengths until they held the shape.
Don’t miss: Budiman Ong on shaping Indonesia’s design identity through craft and collaboration
Ulaman Eco Retreat, Bali, Indonesia
Ulaman’s reception and dining pavilion lit at dusk, its shingled bamboo roof arching over a reflecting pool at the entrance.
1 / 3
Designed by Charlie Hearn of Inspiral Architects, Ulaman splits its structure between two materials: rammed earth for the ground-level walls, using earth excavated on site and rammed by workers recruited from the neighbouring village, and bamboo, much of it harvested from the property itself, for everything above. The resort’s yoga studio cantilevers off a cliff edge, supporting a parabolic bamboo pavilion that appears to float over the valley below.
Above An aerial view of Ulaman's cluster of shingled bamboo villas curling above the Bali jungle, each one opening to its own private balcony over the river below
Above Ulaman Eco Retreat's rammed-earth and bamboo structures mirrored in one of the property's reflecting pools, the curved bamboo roofline sweeping past a living palm trunk left untouched during construction
An aerial view of Ulaman's cluster of shingled bamboo villas curling above the Bali jungle, each one opening to its own private balcony over the river below
1 / 2
Guest villas feature curvilinear bamboo roofs and cocoon-like interiors, with living tree trunks left to grow directly through several structures rather than being cleared during construction. The project won the UNESCO Prix Versailles Award for Sustainable Architecture in 2021.
Read more: Built to arrive: the Prix Versailles Most Beautiful Airports 2026 list
Castaway Island Resort, Vietnam
Above A row of guest huts at Castaway Island Resort on Cat Ba, Vietnam, their curved thatched roofs rising directly from bamboo-framed lower floors set into the beach
Above A line of guest huts along the shoreline, each thatched roof pitched at a slightly different angle against the forested cliffs behind
A row of guest huts at Castaway Island Resort on Cat Ba, Vietnam, their curved thatched roofs rising directly from bamboo-framed lower floors set into the beach
1 / 2
VTN Architects designed this beachfront resort using traditional Vietnamese bamboo lashing techniques: thin Tam Vong bamboo rods are first soaked in mud and smoked, then assembled with bamboo dowel nails and lashed together with rope. Five accommodation huts sit along the beach, their bamboo frame modules pre-assembled on the ground before being erected on site to improve construction quality.
Above The resort’s restaurant pavilion, with its vaulted bamboo ceiling and criss-crossed trusses, opens onto Lan Ha Bay’s limestone karsts
Above Inside one of Castaway Island’s bamboo-framed structures, shuttered wooden screens and crossed bamboo braces frame a view out to the bay’s islands
The resort’s restaurant pavilion, with its vaulted bamboo ceiling and criss-crossed trusses, opens onto Lan Ha Bay’s limestone karsts
1 / 2
At one end of the beach, the restaurant pavilion is built from 13 bamboo shell units, each composed of 80 straight bamboo rods, forming a hyperbolic-paraboloid roof that ripples across the ceiling in a wave-like pattern. Thatch roofing and recycled timber shutters, drawn from traditional Vietnamese colonial villas, complete the huts’ facades.
See also: 8 neoclassical buildings around the world that are still in use today
Playa Viva treehouses, Juluchuca, Mexico
Above The bamboo treehouses at Playa Viva strung along the Mexican coastline, their curved, ray-inspired forms rising among coconut palms and cactus
The bamboo treehouses at Playa Viva strung along the Mexican coastline, their curved, ray-inspired forms rising among coconut palms and cactus
1 / 1
Designed by lead architect Olav Bruin of Atelier Nomadic, six treehouses were added to this existing eco-resort in 2021, suspended among oceanfront palm trees and inspired by the shape of migrating Mobula rays seen offshore. Strong Guadua bamboo forms the main structure, roof and facade louvres, while the lighter Phyllostachys aurea bamboo clads the walls and facade panels.
Above Inside one of Playa Viva’s treehouses, split bamboo cladding wraps a curved frame open to the Pacific at sunset
Inside one of Playa Viva’s treehouses, split bamboo cladding wraps a curved frame open to the Pacific at sunset
1 / 1
Each treehouse pairs a front structure, holding the master bedroom and a hammock-net balcony suspended toward the sea, with a rear annex containing the bathroom and a second bedroom. The hyperbolic paraboloid roof acts as a natural umbrella, shading the interior and channelling heavy rain away, while bamboo louvres allow for cross-ventilation.
NOW READ
How six hotel brands built design-led hotels in Bhutan
Inside Seoul’s chaebol neighbourhoods: where Korea’s wealthiest business families live
Indonesian architect Andra Matin and the art of noticing things
Topics
Best of Tatler Asia video highlights
Featured videos from around Tatler Asia: Get exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the interviews we do, the events we attend, the shoots we produce, and the incredibly important people who are part of our community
Jennifer Choo is Regional Managing Editor of Tatler Homes, covering architecture, interior design, and art across Asia. Based in Malaysia, she oversees regional content on luxury residential design and contemporary art collections. Legally trained but choosing to pursue her passion for design, she previously led notable design publications and worked as an interior stylist and art consultant for property developers, design firms, and private clients.
