Bamboo Bath House

Completion Year: 2026
Location: Bilpin, New South Wales, Australia
Architecture: Cave Urban
Lead Architect: Jed Long & Nici Long
Construction: Blair Stapley, Matt Driscoll & Jon Blake
Landscape Design: Honey Long & Alexander Maxwell-Anderson

Surrounded by native bushland, sandstone ridgelines, and a panorama that transforms through the day, Bilpin, New South Wales, has always been regarded as a place of refuge. Here, overlooking the Blue Mountains and perched by a lake, is a retreat cabin spanning only 36 square metres. It’s called Bamboo Bath House, and the project builds on years of research into structural laminated bamboo, reimagining how this rapidly renewable material might respond to a different landscape and climate. The cabin marks the first known application of the material within the Australian building industry.

Designed for two people or a small family, the cabin embraces a compact footprint while maintaining a symbiotic relationship with its surroundings. Furniture and joinery are recessed into the walls, allowing ledges, seating and sleeping areas to become part of the architecture organically. Large openings frame views across the valley and extend daily life onto the surrounding deck, while a bathing space carved into the terrain below establishes a direct connection to the adjacent lake. Orientated on an east-west axis, the cabin welcomes morning light into the bedroom and evening sun into the living space, using solar orientation as a fundamental design driver rather than an afterthought.

The relationship between home and environment continues through the planning of Legombang Treehouse. The spatial organization reinterprets the nine-square geometry of Asta Kosala Kosali, the centuries-old Balinese system that organizes domestic compounds around a grid for harmonious, sacred placement, and reinterprets it as a two-storey house spanning a nine-square grid beneath a single roof.

An ancient grid-system.

Every decision was made with Bali's tropical climate in mind. Orientation, deep roof overhangs, operable screens, a ventilated roof ridge, open voids and layered thresholds work together to capture prevailing sea breezes, encourage natural cross-ventilation and create comfort without relying on energy-intensive cooling. Instead of drawing a hard line between inside and outside, the house embraces a slower transition between the two, allowing gardens, courtyards and living spaces to flow naturally into one another.

Passive design in practice.

Although the house was initially intended to be built entirely from bamboo, the discovery of reclaimed ulin ironwood prompted a change in direction. Native to Indonesia and valued for its durability, the material soon became the primary structure of the home. Watching local builders expertly carve each traditional timber joint by hand confirmed the decision to embrace ironwood instead.

Retained in their original irregular forms, the reclaimed round ulin columns are organized on a modular grid that supports the roof canopy while allowing spaces to emerge naturally between their trunks. Bespoke hand-cut joinery responds to the geometry of each column, preserving the integrity and individuality of the reclaimed timber. Breathable lime plaster walls help regulate humidity and prevent moisture build-up, responding to the demands of the tropical environment while creating a warm, tactile interior finish.

Locally sourced limestone was used to shape the pool and surrounding landscape, drawing inspiration from Bali's natural rock pools and the stepped formations of its rice terraces. Rather than introducing a conventional swimming pool, the landscape is carved into the site, creating spaces that feel as though they have always belonged there. Limestone offcuts were repurposed across paving and garden details, reinforcing a low-waste approach while creating material continuity between the architecture and its landscape.