<p>Shells have the potential to significantly reduce material usage in construction due to its high structural efficiency compared to conventional structures subjected to bending forces. It transfers the load through the in-plane forces. Generally, shells are reinforced with steel to take care of tensile stress. In this study, we have replaced steel with bamboo as reinforcing materials, as it holds great promises for constructing thin concrete shells offering strength, geometric versatility, sustainability, and durability. Incorporating bamboo into cement mortar has resulted in a twofold increase in the strength-to-weight ratio. The main aim of the current study is to experimentally evaluate the load-bearing capacities and investigate the load–deflection behaviour of bamboo-reinforced spherical and cylindrical shell structures. Deflection at the service load remains within acceptable limits. In addition, the current study presents a comparative analysis of environmental impact of structures reinforced with bamboo versus steel in both spherical and cylindrical shells. The results obtained highlight that there are potential environmental and structural advantages if we use bamboo reinforcement over traditional steel reinforcement in shell structures. The results reveal that there will be significant decrease in weight and embodied energy which leads to sustainable practice.</p>