KURA KURA Badminton Court
Kura Kura is the name of a building that houses a badminton court and has a floor surface of over 200 square meters. Inspired by the shape of a tortoise shell, the large bamboo structure was designed and built in a collaboration between Ibuku and Studio Jencquel.
The court is privately owned by Maximilian Jencquel and was completed in 2016. The pavilion is built entirely from bamboo (structure and all roofing), except for the floor, which is from a special rubber resin.
The roof structure is built following an ergonomic shape and a height of 9 meters, allowing for an uninterrupted trajectory of the shuttlecock.
This building is the result of a collaboration between two design companies: Ibuku and Studio Jencquel.
It was Studio Jencquel's initial concept/idea to conceive a convex roofline that would solve some of the ergonomic requirements needed for an indoor badminton court.
At the center of the court, above the net, a height of 9m is required, and therefore the ceiling of this court was to mimic the trajectory of a shuttle-cock, resulting in a turtle-like curved shape.
Other considerations affecting the shape and height of this roof where the need to allow airflow for cooling, while simultaneously stopping the wind, which would interfere with the shuttlecock’s flight.
That’s why the building's orientation was positioned in consideration of the predominant wind patterns, and the roof almost grazes the ground on two of its extremities. Bamboo was the obvious choice for such an organically shaped building in the tropics.
Studio Jencquel's founder Maximilian Jencquel approached his friend Elora Hardy from Ibuku, the most experienced and professional bamboo designers/ builders on Bali (and probably the world) to help design a structure for the aforementioned concept.
Elora and her team came up with this intriguing, basket-like woven structure, which they not only conceived, but also built with their amazing team of bamboo carpenters.
The project credits are for Studio Jencquel for the idea and the concept, but please kindly remember to also credit our friend Elora Hardy Ibuku for the design and execution of this sublime structure. We would never have been able to do this without her and her amazing team.
