I was in the building industry for my entire career, with keen emphasis on maintenance and repair of older buildings. Most folks have no idea what's coming in the maintenance and renovation of these very tall cast concrete platform buildings. Even current maintenance practice pales in comparison to what's coming. Hong Kong...or any oceanfront city...has the added (big) problem of its salt water environment.
No one was thinking about the problems of "skyscrapers" because none had ever been built before. Like everything else in the building industry, the real R&D is done on the backs of the next generations.
I heard that the humidity level is super low (close to 30% or even lower) in Guangdong and Hong Kong these days. These coastal cities probably rarely see days so dry, let alone take that into account when designing buildings (like what cities in northern China would do). Such a tragedy.
It's not just that bamboo is lighter and cheaper, it also doesn't conduct heat or rust like metal would, which are strong considerations for its use in a HK climate. And bamboo is strong.. looking at the photos you posted, the the bamboo is still holding despite the fire raging on the inside of the building. The reports of styrofoam and the green cover being flammable are the more likely culprits at least until an investigation is done.
I actually think bamboo is an excellent material for tropical and subtropical climates: it doesn’t rust, conducts heat less than metal, performs well in Hong Kong’s humidity, and tends to char rather than fail catastrophically, as we saw in Tai Po. I’ve even used it myself in a small building design.
I agree the green mesh, plastic ties and any foam/insulation are probably much bigger culprits in terms of flame spread.
My point in the piece isn’t that “bamboo caused this,” but that once you wrap multiple towers in a continuous layer of materials, bamboo (still combustible once dried), plastic netting, and other flammable façade elements, you’ve effectively created a shared external fuel bed across the whole estate.
I watched in awe one day, staying in a small hotel in the Western district, as construction workers set up a bamboo facade across the face of the multi storey building opposite me. As a 23 year resident of Hong Kong, I’m a firm fan of bamboo scaffolding, mainly on environmental grounds. If the administration rushes to outlaw bamboo scaffolding , some Chinese metal frame manufacturers are going to make a killing at the expense of the environment (bamboo will rot at the end of the day; metal will not, even after its surface is corroded, for decades if not centuries). Bamboo groves will be gutted, with the loss of environment to every creature that relies on it for food and more particularly shelter and nesting. And yes, it is the netting and styrofoam that were far more likely culprits- and perhaps a construction worker who failed to extinguish his cigarette. So the big question is, how quickly will the HK government bury this outrage now they’ve arrested their culprits - the CEOs of the construction companies conducting the renovation. Yes, they were responsible for not respecting regulations (allegedly) but let us not forget that by law, a government department should have been inspecting the renovations on a regular basis and fining accordingly.
Totally agree, bamboo shouldn’t be the scapegoat for regulatory negligence and misconduct. A friend in Hong Kong mentioned similar all-at-once, fully-netted renovations still happening, like at Sui Wo Court 穗禾苑 in Sha Tin. I really hope this leads to stricter inspections rather than just blame-shifting, to prevent another tragedy like this.
I was in the building industry for my entire career, with keen emphasis on maintenance and repair of older buildings. Most folks have no idea what's coming in the maintenance and renovation of these very tall cast concrete platform buildings. Even current maintenance practice pales in comparison to what's coming. Hong Kong...or any oceanfront city...has the added (big) problem of its salt water environment.
No one was thinking about the problems of "skyscrapers" because none had ever been built before. Like everything else in the building industry, the real R&D is done on the backs of the next generations.
I heard that the humidity level is super low (close to 30% or even lower) in Guangdong and Hong Kong these days. These coastal cities probably rarely see days so dry, let alone take that into account when designing buildings (like what cities in northern China would do). Such a tragedy.
It's not just that bamboo is lighter and cheaper, it also doesn't conduct heat or rust like metal would, which are strong considerations for its use in a HK climate. And bamboo is strong.. looking at the photos you posted, the the bamboo is still holding despite the fire raging on the inside of the building. The reports of styrofoam and the green cover being flammable are the more likely culprits at least until an investigation is done.
I actually think bamboo is an excellent material for tropical and subtropical climates: it doesn’t rust, conducts heat less than metal, performs well in Hong Kong’s humidity, and tends to char rather than fail catastrophically, as we saw in Tai Po. I’ve even used it myself in a small building design.
I agree the green mesh, plastic ties and any foam/insulation are probably much bigger culprits in terms of flame spread.
My point in the piece isn’t that “bamboo caused this,” but that once you wrap multiple towers in a continuous layer of materials, bamboo (still combustible once dried), plastic netting, and other flammable façade elements, you’ve effectively created a shared external fuel bed across the whole estate.
I watched in awe one day, staying in a small hotel in the Western district, as construction workers set up a bamboo facade across the face of the multi storey building opposite me. As a 23 year resident of Hong Kong, I’m a firm fan of bamboo scaffolding, mainly on environmental grounds. If the administration rushes to outlaw bamboo scaffolding , some Chinese metal frame manufacturers are going to make a killing at the expense of the environment (bamboo will rot at the end of the day; metal will not, even after its surface is corroded, for decades if not centuries). Bamboo groves will be gutted, with the loss of environment to every creature that relies on it for food and more particularly shelter and nesting. And yes, it is the netting and styrofoam that were far more likely culprits- and perhaps a construction worker who failed to extinguish his cigarette. So the big question is, how quickly will the HK government bury this outrage now they’ve arrested their culprits - the CEOs of the construction companies conducting the renovation. Yes, they were responsible for not respecting regulations (allegedly) but let us not forget that by law, a government department should have been inspecting the renovations on a regular basis and fining accordingly.
Totally agree, bamboo shouldn’t be the scapegoat for regulatory negligence and misconduct. A friend in Hong Kong mentioned similar all-at-once, fully-netted renovations still happening, like at Sui Wo Court 穗禾苑 in Sha Tin. I really hope this leads to stricter inspections rather than just blame-shifting, to prevent another tragedy like this.