Over the past three decades, the utilization of fibre reinforced polymers has become extensively popular for civil engineering infrastructure applications. Studies prove that externally bonded glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) can significantly enhance the strength and durability of reinforced concrete (RC) members. This paper discusses the behaviour of a bi-directional GFRP confined RC rectangular perforated columns under axial loading. Eight rectangular RC specimens with a height of 500 mm and a cross-section of 120 mm x 100 mm with square and circular perforations of 30 mm x 30 mm and 27 mm radius, respectively were tested. The ultimate load carrying capacity of the reference specimens (unconfined perforated RC columns) equalled 51% and 70% of the GFRP strengthened specimens for square and circular openings respectively. © 2018 Czech Technical University in Prague. All rights reserved.