Star Bamboo Singapore

There’s nothing we appreciate more than a repeat customer. This customer had selected bamboo flooring for her parents’ place a few years ago. When she got her new place recently, she came back to Star Bamboo. Thank you, C!

Here are the results, enjoy the photos below!

Natural Vertical bamboo flooring

Touch of luxury in the bedroom

Impress the guests when hosting a party

Forget laminates - there's nothing like real wood to make you feel at home

Don’t forget, there are more photos of our projects over on Star Bamboo’s Facebook page.

Square Rooms regularly showcases green home ideas, and we are happy to contribute yet again to their eco-friendly column.

Here’s a quick snapshot of the article, just grab a copy of the magazine for the full thing!

Eco-friendly bamboo flooring in "Square Rooms" (May 2012 issue)

Hi all,

this article in FuturArc came out last month. FuturArc is the premier green architecture magazine in Singapore.

FuturArc vol 25 cover

Less than 6 years ago, a magazine like FuturArc wouldn’t be commercially viable. The interest in eco-friendly building materials such as bamboo flooring simply wasn’t there. So much has changed since Al Gore’s Oscar-winning movie “The Inconvenient Truth”.

It’s a short feature this time, here it is for your reading pleasure:

Star Bamboo in FuturArc vol 25 (Click for full-size image)

Dear all,

It has come to our attention that some unscrupulous people have been passing themselves off as representatives of Star Bamboo (S) Pte Ltd / Star Bamboo Company Ltd.

They are riding on the reputation and name of Star Bamboo, but providing you with poor quality products sourced from other factories instead.

Do not be taken in. Deal only with official Star Bamboo representatives with starbamboo.com email addresses. Our official web site is www.starbamboo.com.

If you have any doubts at all, please call our company at (+65) 6565 9217 to verify. The scam artists usually use their mobile phone numbers (beginning with digits ’8′ or ’9′) instead of the company phone number.

We are also contacting various trade directories and web site to have the inaccurate information taken down. If you know of any such web site, please let us know so that we can take the appropriate action.

Thanks so much for your understanding, we hope you will continue to support Star Bamboo.

One of the most popular housing trends in Singapore is the rise of small apartments typically less than 500 sqft, also known as “mickey mouse” units. Today’s project showcase isn’t that small, but it’s an inescapable fact that the newer the apartment, the smaller the rooms.

However, with a touch of creativity and judicious use of colours, you can easily create the illusion of wide, expansive space.

Natural horizontal bamboo flooring + Mirrored wardrobe = Space

The light colour tone of the Natural Horizontal bamboo flooring, together with generous amount of sunlight through the windows, help to brighten up the environment.

Check out more photos of this project on our Facebook page!

If you like what you see, why not do the same for your home or office? Contact us today to find out how you can enjoy the beauty of bamboo flooring!

A recently completed project in Bishan was billed as the first DBSS housing project with eco-friendly bamboo flooring. Using bamboo flooring has helped the developer to achieve a Green Mark building Gold Plus certification. Although Star Bamboo was not involved with this project, we were cheered to see bamboo flooring used in a large scale residential project.

Unfortunately, since the residents moved in, we have been receiving a steady stream of queries. Many owners took issue with the quality of the bamboo flooring, and wanted us to help. Most of the calls are grouses about the bamboo flooring that have been installed in their bedrooms. There were complaints such as unsightly gaps between the planks, slight cupping and unevenness, and widely varying colours.

It was an unusual decision to do pre-finished installation for the bamboo flooring. After all, most local home owners do not use footwear at home, and would prefer the bamboo floor to be site-sanded, which would provide a smoother feel. In addition, the gaps between the micro-bevel edges in the prefinished flooring easily trap dirt, and can be unsightly unless one cleans the floor diligently. This problem was exacerbated by shoddy workmanship.

We had the opportunity to do some work for one of the apartments (photos available) and also observed that the natural colour tones of the bamboo varied very widely. This probably explains why colour staining was done on the bamboo flooring.

It was indeed a pity that the bamboo flooring for this project did not get the acclaim it deserved. Installing bamboo flooring requires expertise and care, which would be a challenge to execute for hundreds of units under tight and cost time pressure.

If you are a resident of this project and want us to help with your bamboo flooring, please contact us today.

See photos of completed projects on our Facebook page.

We’ll be the first to hold up our hands and admit that our bamboo flooring is not the cheapest in the market. There are more affordable options available, such as laminate flooring or ceramic tiles. However the old adage holds true: you do get what you pay for.

If you are looking for a high-quality, attractive long strip wooden flooring product that is also friendly to the environment, then frankly, you only have one choice. Bamboo flooring is the only candidate that ticks all the right boxes.

Unfortunately, some clients have told us that they reluctantly choose parquet or laminate flooring, purely out of budgetary constraints. That is why most of our projects are in the luxury residential or commercial sectors (companies usually have substantial construction budgets, so choosing bamboo flooring hardly impacts their costs).

But every once in a while, we are lucky to meet clients who are committed to the environmental cause and truly understand the principle behind Star Bamboo. They see and cherish the value that we deliver.

Here, we present a HDB project from the West of Singapore. Not only did they choose bamboo flooring, they even opted for the high-end water-based polyurethane site finish coating. Being eco-friendly also means providing a healthy environment for the family.

They visited our showroom time and again, to look and feel the bamboo samples on display. Faced with such sincerity, we just had to give them a fantastic price.

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Lots of natural light in the Play Zone.

The client has creatively restructured a 3-room HDB flat into a Play Zone and a Bed Room. With sunlight streaming across the floor in the Play Zone, this is the ideal place for the client to practise her yoga and relax after a hard day’s work. You can see the matt finish on the Natural Horizontal bamboo flooring.

The wardrobe is actually a wall.

Don’t be deceived by appearances, this wardrobe is actually a partition between the 2 rooms. If they ever decide to combine the rooms into one, it will be a relatively straight-forward task.

Taking a closer look at the bamboo flooring.

The Natural Horizontal bamboo flooring is the lighter of our range. The bamboo knot patterns are highly distinctive, and sure to leave a deep impression on your guests. This provides a nice constrast with our previous project, which used Carbonised Vertical instead.

This is the Bed room, with a wooden partition discreetly screening the washroom in the corner.

This is the Bed room, where the light colour of the Natural bamboo makes for a soothing atmosphere. It also helps to create an expansive feel, which is especially suited for smaller projects.

If you like what you see, just get in touch with us and we’ll try our best to make it happen for you!

Star Bamboo is proud to announce that we are recognised as part of the international non-profit organisation Global Eco-labelling Network’s Internationally Coordinated Eco-labelling System (GENICES). As a staunch supporter of Singapore Environment Council’s Green Label scheme, our eco-friendly bamboo flooring is now listed as a Type I Voluntary Environmental Performance Labelling product.

Our eco-friendly bamboo flooring is now recognised all around the world.

From GEN’s web site, a Type I program is:

a voluntary, multiple-criteria based, third party program that awards a license that authorizes the use of environmental labels on products indicating overall environmental preferability of a product within a particular product category based on life cycle considerations.

All you need to understand is that when you get bamboo flooring from Star Bamboo, you get independent assurance that your actions will help the environment.

Simply look out for the Singapore Green Label logo below:

Star Bamboo is a proud member of the Singapore Green Label.

If your supplier claims to Green Label certified, you should verify their claims on the Singapore Green Label product directory (Star Bamboo is listed under “035-004″).

Below is the full text of the press release from Singapore Environment Council (SEC):

Singapore’s Green Label Gets A Global Boost

Singapore’s Green Label, which turns 20 in 2012, is certified by Global Ecolabelling Network’s Internationally Coordinated Ecolabelling System(GENICES)

Singapore’s most recognised eco-label, the Green Label, which is administered by the Singapore Environment Council, today received a global boost when it was officially accredited by the Global Ecolabelling Network (GEN), an international non-profit association of third-party, environmental performance recognition, certification and labelling organisations.

2          The certificate of accreditation was awarded to SEC at the 2011 GEN Annual General Meeting and International Conference of the Global Ecolabelling Network in Yilan, Taiwan, yesterday afternoon, 27 October 2011.

3          This independent accreditation from a global authority on eco-labelling sets the Green Label apart as Singapore’s one and only Type 1 Eco-labelling scheme.

4          “Type 1” is an important distinction that identifies Singapore’s Green Label Scheme (SGLS) as an eco-certification scheme that considers multiple criteria, examines the overall life cycle of a product and which incorporates principles of life cycle thinking, and which is administered on a voluntary basis. This ensures that all aspects of the product have been analysed to ensure that the product is truly an environmentally preferable alternative to one that does not carry the Green Label Logo.

5          The peer-review process of the Global Ecolabelling Network’s Internationally Coordinated Ecolabelling System (GENICES) accreditation process also lauds the appropriate and good practices of the SGLS, as verified by international auditors. The SEC is the only eco-labelling body in Singapore that is a member of the Global Ecolabelling Network.

6          Receiving the accreditation certificate on behalf of the SEC was Executive Director Jose Raymond. He said, “We are very proud that Singapore’s Green Label has stood up to such stringent scrutiny from GEN. The SEC works hard to constantly develop new criteria for eligible products, and tighten up requirements for existing categories as well. By expanding our outreach to as many types of consumer products, construction materials, personal electronics and home appliances, as well as constantly improving the credibility and distinctiveness of the Green Label, we hope that the already familiar logo will become an instantly recognisable and trusted symbol of environmentally preferable products.”

7          The GENICES certification also sets a solid foundation for the Singapore Green Label Scheme to ramp up its drive to expand its scope, in terms of criteria development and regional outreach.

8          The GENICES certification helps SEC achieve multilateral, mutual trust with other GENICES members. This is a very important step, as it qualifies the SGLS to sign Mutual Recognition Agreements with other GENICES certified countries, such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, the United States and many European countries. This makes it easier for SGLS  certified products to get certified in these countries. The achievement of multilateral mutual trust also enables SEC to cut costs for products certified by other GENICES members.

9          “We are happy to be able to offer more value-for-money to SGLS applicants, and hope that more manufacturers will avail themselves to this attractive opportunity for regional outreach by applying for the SGLS certification. For the Singaporean consumers, having as many products labelled under the SGLS will mean allowing them to make more environmentally preferable purchasing decisions across. For example, the very same construction manager who chooses Green Label-certified cements containing recycled content, and paints low in volatile organic compounds at the workplace can pick up a Green Label detergent, dishwashing soap or light bulbs on their way home,” added Mr Raymond.

10        As of 22 October 2011, 1,940 products are certified under the SGLS.

For more information about the Singapore Green Labelling Scheme, please visitwww.greenlabel.sg.

**END OF MEDIA RELEASE**

Hello, it’s been a while since we had some new photos. Here’s one of our favourite projects in the recent months, we hope that you will like it.

The owner of this Nathan Road apartment has a generous collection of solid wooden furniture. The colour and general air of solidity goes well with our carbonised bamboo flooring. There are many pieces of rose wood furniture, which one might think is too dark-hued for our bamboo flooring, but the overall effect is surprisingly harmonious. Together, they provides a warm and luxurious feeling.

Rose wood bed and study desk perched on Carbonised Vertical bamboo flooring

The rose wood bed has been in the family for many years, and was handed down to the owner by her parents.

Modern and clean lines in another bedroom. The white walls make for a nice contrast with the Carbonised colour of the bamboo flooring.

Rooms have a touch of modern contemporary flair, yet the bamboo flooring goes well with the design. Whether your design theme is modern or classic, our bamboo flooring is timeless.

The designer opted for a matt coating on the bamboo flooring. As you can observe in the following photo, there is little glare in the bright afternoon sun, making it the default choice in tropical Singapore.

The matt coating not only reduces glares, but also takes the inevitable wear and tear excellently.

An open-concept bathtub in the bedroom is a tad cheeky. After an indulgent soak, one steps right onto the warm, welcoming bamboo flooring back to the bed.

There is always the curtain to shield one from curious neighbours.

We hope that you have enjoyed the photos presented above. If you would like to enjoy bamboo flooring in your home or office, contact us here.

Sorry to those who have tried calling us at our office number, our telephone line is down again. It’s the 3rd time in a year that the phone line was out of service. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that Singtel patches this up quickly.

But don’t fret, you can still contact us easily.