The Trilix Bamboo Pavilion is an innovative, eco-friendly structure designed to showcase the versatility and sustainability of bamboo as a building material. Crafted primarily from rapidly renewable European bamboo, the Trilix serves as a shining example of carbon negative architecture.
First built in April 2024 at the NEB Festival in Brussels, Belgium, the pavilion formed a striking contrast with the surrounding neo classical musea. The Dutch Design Week followed in October, where the bamboo pavilion enhanced Strijp-S, through its natural appearance. The pavilion stayed at this old factory square, to be enjoyed daily at the terraces of the local restaurants.
Enhancing European cities with bamboo pavilions. The aim of this bamboo pavilion is to inspire citizens in Europe with structures showing that bamboo can be a beautiful and strong building material. The European Commission saw this possibility for their 2024 New European Bauhaus festival in Brussels, Belgium. With the Arc du Cinquantenaire as a neo classical décor, the elegant pavilion made a striking contrast in material while blending in with the rhythm of the colonnade through its organic shapes.
The structure is based on a solid configuration of round poles while a grid of strips covers the full roof and skin of the pavilion. In the seating around the towers engineered bamboo is shown as a processed material. The Trilix is made of European bamboo harvested in The Netherlands and Georgia. A high amount of carbon is locked in these bamboo poles during growth and gets sequestered in this structure.
Many people have seen bamboo on a tropical holiday but not in the Park at the end of the street. By getting more acquainted with a material, through pavilions like this, people will get inspired and new possibilities will arise. That is what this pavilion is aiming for: spreading inspiration for a bright future of bamboo in the city landscape of Europe.
The pavilion is set up in Brussels for the first time. Careful it was taken down in pieces to be rebuild for the Dutch Design Week. A fully reused pavilion was shining for its second round in a new location. After the festival it has been moved to the terrace of the neighboring restaurants where it will brighten up the area for the full 2025 season.
The pavilion is build by a special team of artist, builders and architects under the guidance of bamboo consultant Vinc Math. He shares his knowledge of bamboo construction in hands-on workshops like the construction of this pavilion. By making a bamboo construction by hand, the team learns how they can implement this material in their own projects. It will contribute to spreading the use of bamboo through Europe.
The Trilix Bamboo Pavilion is build by the collaborative efforts of Studio Akeka, The Dutch Bamboo Foundation and Vinc Math. Summum Engineering guided the structural analysis. The team on site was formed by Brian Wennersten, Cecilia Rhebergen, Dieter Blok, Erno Langenberg, Eppo Karsijns, Jop Vissers Vorstenbosch, Rein van der Geest, Robert van Kats, Sanne Eekel, Shinnosuke Wasswa, Stef Godschalk and Vinc Math.
