This study investigated the compressive performance of 24 laminated bamboo specimens made from three different growth portions of the source bamboo. The cross-section of each specimen was 100 mm x 100 mm. The load-strain and load-displacement relationships are obtained from compression tests, and the detailed failure modes, compressive strength and elastic modulus for all specimens are reported. The results show that the mean compressive strength increases with growth portion height, but that the variation in compressive strength also increases with growth portion height. The net result is that the characteristic strength (typically used in the design process) decreases slightly with growth portion height, but not significantly. In contrast, laminated bamboo manufactured from the middle growth portion exhibits the highest elastic modulus, with the variation again increasing with height. Although the source growth portion has a clear effect on the behaviour of laminated bamboo under compression, the paper concludes that the effect is not significant from a design perspective. The results of all the tests are combined to produce a model stress-strain relationship suitable for predicting the performance of laminated bamboo under compression for design purposes. The stress-strain relationship shows that under compression laminated bamboo fails in a ductile manner. Based on the compressive properties obtained in this research, laminated bamboo is a suitable construction material for engineering structures. (c) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.