Local Material Bamboo: KAKR Hall, A Sustainable Community Center

Bamboo is one of the most widely used materials for construction, just like Franky Simanjuntak who built the KAKR Hall using bamboo as the main material for this building. KAKR Hall is a multifunction hall used for worship activities for children and youth in Buluh Awar Village, Deli Serdang, North Sumatera, Indonesia.

This hall was built as a part of the revitalization project of the local ground zero church in Buluh Awar Village. This village is known for its abundant amount of good-quality bamboo. However, the villagers haven't used these materials properly. Starting from this issue, Franky Simanjuntak from cavatinastudio with Boy Sembiring and Freddy Simamora then built a community center to educate the communities about the advantages of bamboo to increase their economic, social, and environmental qualities. The development process of the building involved the individuals in the community in Buluh Awar Village, collaborating with the architect team and the bamboo experts.

The building, built with a sustainable architecture concept using local materials, has a shape inspired by the Karo traditional houses and adapted one of the geometric patterns from those houses. The triangular patterns parallel to the curved patterns create a beautiful rhyme on this building.

The beauty of the building is shown by the use of bamboo, which creates an impression of being close to nature. The material's natural color creates harmony between the building and the green and beautiful surrounding environment. The curved plan shape allows a dynamic activity where the ends of each building mass are open, providing beautiful views of Buluh Awar Village. Besides that, KAKR Hall was also a finalist in the World Architecture Festival 2023 at Marina Bay Sand, Singapore.