Bamboo is a type of woody grass from the family of Bambusoideae and it has been widely spread in most Asian, African, and South American countries. In Sri Lanka, 10,000 hectares of bamboo cultivation belonging to seventeen different species have been identified. Bamboo is considered highly renewable, economically feasible and fast-growing, all of which are a hallmark of a sustainable material. When used with proper treatment and comprehension of its properties under different applications, it is a durable and versatile material. The present study aims to determine the key structural properties of four species of bamboo available in Sri Lanka, namely yellow bamboo, green bamboo, giant bamboo, and hybrid bamboo. In order to identify their suitability to adopt as a load-carrying material such as bamboo reinforced concrete, its properties should be evaluated under standard conditions. As such, laboratory experiments for compressive strength, tensile strength (transverse and longitudinal) and shear strength were carried out for representative samples of the four species. All the tests have been carried out according to the standards of ISO 22157:2019 to maintain the accuracy and reliability of results. This paper presents and discusses the preparation of samples to comply with the standards. The ultimate strength, as well as the stress–strain variation for each of these loading cases, were obtained from the experimental results, and the preliminary findings are also presented. Moreover, failure patterns, especially under longitudinal tensile forces and their significance towards structural design are presented. In conclusion, the outcomes of the present research study will play a significant role in introducing bamboo as an alternative and sustainable material in the construction industry in Sri Lanka.