Zac Efron is building an ambitious off-grid home in Australia that will incorporate hemp across everything from walls and insulation to mattresses, textiles, and interior components. The project, designed by environmental innovator Joost Bakker, reflects a growing interest in sustainable construction and explores how industrial hemp could play a larger role in the future of architecture.
Interest in building with hempcrete—also known as hemp-lime or hemp concrete—is definitely growing. Such an idea is not necessarily new, but every time a project like this appears, people pay attention. And while there still aren’t many real-life examples, the benefits sound almost endless: eco-homes, community projects, sustainable architecture studios, materials that breathe better, help restore the past, shape the future, and take better care of the present.
And so, after making headlines in Australia last year, hemp has found its way into a home very much at the center of pop culture: Zac Efron is building his new house in Australia using this cannabis-derived material.
The High School Musical alum and host of Down to Earth (a Netflix series that followed him around the world exploring more sustainable ways to live, eat, and inhabit the planet) is now building his own home with industrial hemp. The project, named FutureCave, seems to fit into an ongoing personal search for a more sustainable way of living.
Hempcrete, or hemp-lime, is a biocomposite made from hemp hurd, lime and water. Hemp hurd is the woody inner core of the industrial hemp stalk. It is not the flower; it is neither the leaf nor the part of the plant associated with recreational use.
According to People and E! News, Efron is building the project on a 128-hectare property near the border between New South Wales and Queensland, in an area located about an hour …
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Author: Camila Berriex / High Times
