Graham Creed and Bridgit English have created an oasis at their farm – and they used an unusual building material to do so.
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they → create → material
The former ABC weatherman and his partner built the off-grid, two-bedroom house with hemp in 2019, on their 44-hectare paradise known as Eagles Reach in regional NSW, years before movie star Zac Efron started to do the same.
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Efron → build → same
The hemp walls of their home in Nooroo, north of Newcastle, provide thermal regulation and fire resistance.
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walls → provide → regulation
Along with double glazing, ventilation and tiled floors, the house is comfortable throughout the seasons.
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house → tile → seasons
Conditions are perfect to kick back and enjoy the vast views, which English says gives it a “magical” sense of retreat.
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English → kick → retreat
“From bed and at the right time of the season, we can see the Milky Way,” she says.
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she → see → Way
They have now listed the idyllic property at 299 Nevilles Road for sale through The Agency Gloucester’s Amanda Robertson.
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They → list → Robertson
The couple are years ahead of Efron, who put hemp in the spotlight by building a Tweed Valley eco-home using hemp and straw components with environmentalist and designer Joost Bakker.
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who → put → Bakker
Efron happily posed with the hemp boards that will form his future kitchen when he visited a factory on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula this year.
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he → pose → Peninsula
Efron is lending his star power to hemp, and although it has boosted the plant’s profile in residential design, experts say more public awareness, builder training and manufacturing advancements will help it to move from niche to mainstream.
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it → lend → mainstream
Creed, a meteorologist and the former ABC News national weather presenter, says heat was front of mind when he and English decided what type of house to build.
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he → say → house
“We were living in a shed house, and it was off grid, so we knew the off-grid component,” Creed says.
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Creed → live → component
“But heat in that shed was a real problem, so we always knew that we needed to build something that was more resilient to heat.”
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that → know → heat
They regenerated the former cattle farm into a bush haven for wildlife, and Creed grows waratahs and proteas in colourful paddocks.
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Creed → regenerate → paddocks
Their conservation ethos naturally included the building materials they selected.
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they → include → materials
Their builder, Shane Hannan, offered the choice of hemp or hebel, a lightweight concrete.
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builder → offer → hemp
“We had a look at some of the hemp homes that he built, and thought, ‘Yep, hemp’s the way to go’,” Creed says.
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Creed → have → that
Far from Hollywood, in Sydney’s suburbs, sustainable home builders such as Nick Sowden have been singing hemp’s praises for years.
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builders → sing → years
Hemp is the plant and hempcrete is the product that combines the woody inner stem with a binder and water.
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that → combine → binder
Sowden built one of Sydney’s first hempcrete homes in 2015.
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Sowden → build → 2015
His interest in the environmental effects of building materials started when he read the book Slow Death by Rubber Duck, about everyday toxins.
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he → start → toxins
A presentation by Australian Hemp Masonry convinced him to complete the training.
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presentation → convince → training
“I said, ‘Wait, this is actually ticking all the boxes’ – it’s got insulation, it’s got thermal mass, it controls the humidity, it locks away a hell of a lot of carbon.
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it → say → carbon
It grows quickly.
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It → grow → ?
You get stable temperature year round, and acoustically it’s fantastic as well,” he says.
Sowden Building Solutions has completed seven hempcrete houses, mainly in Sydney’s inner west.
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Solutions → get → west
Sowden says clients can feel the difference.
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clients → say → difference
“In one instance, I was at an Ashes Test, and it’s 40-something degrees and 56 degrees on the pitch apparently, and I’m getting text messages from my clients with no air-conditioning in the house at that point in time, saying, ‘It’s 24 degrees in here, and it’s been hot for days in a row’,” he says.
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he → ’ → row
Sowden has educated other builders in the material and says more public awareness, industry training and the development of Australian standards, will encourage wider use.
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awareness → educate → use
Researchers are investigating how more Australians could benefit from hemp in their homes.
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Australians → investigate → homes
Associate Professor Ailar Hajimohammadi from UNSW Sydney’s School of Civil and Environmental Engineering says the porous structure provides insulation that reduces the need for heating and cooling.
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that → say → heating
“It can regulate the moisture in the environment as well, which is quite interesting, and not many building components have that capacity,” she says.
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she → regulate → capacity
Hajimohammadi says hempcrete is generally more expensive to build with, but stresses that comparing it directly to the price of conventional materials doesn’t factor in its advantages.
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comparing → say → advantages
More local suppliers and production could help to bring down the cost, she says.
uncertain
she → help → cost
She has researched the development of prefabricated hempcrete components, which would make the building process simple and accessible, for easier and faster construction.
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process → research → construction
Australia’s hemp industry is growing but has further to go.
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industry → grow → further
“It’s relatively small, so of course we need more local processing and manufacturing to give better access, and visibility at least, to what is available.”
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what → ’ → access
The Aporia
