Hemp: Construction Cannabis
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Far from being merely a gateway to artificial paradises, hemp (Latin name cannabis) is a plant with near-magical properties, whose many uses date back to ancient times. It was used to make ropes and sails in Marseille, especially along the famous Canebière—a name that literally means “place where hemp is grown.” Before being replaced by wood pulp, it was used to produce paper—like the very first Gutenberg Bible. More recently, Levi Strauss designed his first pair of jeans using fabric “from Nîmes”—that is, made from hemp.
The plant is also beloved by fans of healthy eating. Legend has it that Buddha survived for three years on a single hemp seed per day. Thanks to its high omega-3 content, hemp seeds and oil help balance essential fatty acids and prevent cardiovascular disease. The seeds are often added to various food products (muffins, dips), while the oil is perfect for healthy salad dressings. But hemp is also an excellent building material—ecological and creative in equal measure.
A High-Performance Material
When combined with lime, chènevotte (the woody, non-fibrous part of the hemp plant) creates a kind of pisé (a filler material) used in the construction of walls, floor slabs, and faux finishes. It’s an ecological material, first because hemp farming is less harmful to the environment than many other crops, and second because it requires no pesticides and has a yield four times greater than that of trees. It’s also a higher-performance material, thanks to its rich silica content, which gives it excellent thermal insulation properties.
Beyond that, it’s a creative material. “Since it’s a filler material, you can play with both shapes and finishes, which offers total freedom of design,” explains Gabriel Gauthier, founder of Artcan, a Shefford-based company specializing in hemp house construction. Using a plywood formwork technique, walls, floors, or ceilings can be molded into all kinds of shapes. Spraying the material onto prepped walls also opens up a wide range of creative finishes, from rough rustic textures to marble-smooth surfaces. “There are up to 50 different textures possible with hemp,” confirms Gabriel Gauthier.