Hempcrete features in large public building
construction of the Women’s Shed

outside a hempcrete build i — Master Builder James Isaacs from Belubula Hemp Homes

Construction of the Lithgow Women’s Shed has just reached an important milestone — completion of all its hempcrete walls. The finish is beautiful, and a big achievement given the record time in which the many volunteers (mostly women), were able to install the 40 cubic meters of hempcrete that cloak what will be a high-performance building. The volunteers were guided by an experienced team of carpenters working under Master Builder James Isaacs from Belubula Hemp Homes Pty Ltd.

Arguably one of Australia’s most experienced hempcrete builders, James Isaacs has designed a unique system for formwork that enables large sections to be effortlessly lifted in minutes by a series of jacks that can be operated by one person. This innovative approach gives the building a superior high-end finish while at the same time saves many hours of labour, reducing the cost of hempcrete builds.

‘Years of sailing and handling rigging on small boats helped me to come up with the system,’ said James. ‘After the first couple of builds where the formwork was heavy at heights and difficult to manage, I thought to myself there must be an easier way. So I developed an interlocking slipform that simply raises the formboard when its full of hempcrete to the next level. With the right foresight, this can be achieved in minutes, reducing downtime of volunteer labour, enabling us to get through as many as 20 hempcrete mixes per day.’

The building will also be built to passivhaus standards as part of the vision for a building that breaks new ground.

Building Designer Dick Clarke from Envirotecture has said ‘It’s the first commercial building in Australia built to these standards and we’re hoping it will set new standards for both the use of hempcrete and Passivhaus design.’

The building sits in a prime position at Lithgow Showground and will be one of the site visits on the itinerary for the Lithgow Hempcrete Hub Workshop planned for Friday 22 November. Read more about the workshop here.

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Lithgow Women’s Shed in progress

Hempcrete features in large public building construction of the Women’s Shed