To reduce the large amount of carbon emissions generated during concrete production and increase the application of green and sustainable building materials in the engineering field, laminated bamboo is used to replace the core section of concrete-filled steel tubes. The effects of cross-sectional forms and core section types on the failure modes and axial compressive properties of column structures are evaluated. The axial compressive behaviors of 16 bamboo columns, bamboo-steel tube (BST) columns, and concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) columns were compared from the perspectives of strength-to-weight ratio, stiffness, and absorbed energy. The experimental results show that the failure modes of laminated bamboo and concrete-filled steel tube (BCFST) columns are end buckling failure and diagonal shear failure. The axial compressive strength of the BST column increased by 94.49 % due to the restraining effect of the steel tube on the bamboo. The key finding is that the cross-sectional area of the core bamboo is a critical factor affecting the axial compressive strength. The BCFST columns with circular cross-sections show excellent ductility, with higher ductility factors of 111.50 % and 30.24 % than BST and CFST columns, respectively. In addition, laminated bamboo is found to be an excellent energy-absorbing material compared to other materials. Based on the confinement effect of BST columns, a prediction model for the axial compressive strength of BCFST columns is proposed, by which the predicted value shows a good agreement (overall error is less than 10 %) with the experimental results.