Paris studio Lemoal Lemoal has used hempcrete blocks to build the Pierre Chevet sports center in France. The studio believes it is the country’s first public building built from the biomaterial.
Named Pierre Chevet, the 380 square-metre sports hall is located in Croissy-Beaubourg near Paris.
The sports hall has hempcrete block walls.
Lemoal Lemoal used the building as an opportunity to experiment with Hemp as a construction material.
The sports center contains an exercise hall and changing rooms. Its walls are filled with hempcrete blocks constructed by cement manufacturer Vicat.
The blocks were made from lime mixed with hemp hurds. These are the woody inner parts of the stems of the hemp plant and are also known as shives.
The sports hall has a half-vaulted structural system
The exterior of the building is clad in white, cement-fiber panels that protect the hemp blocks.
Inside, the building has a wooden, half-vaulted structure that is attached to the hempcrete walls for support and provides a column-free interior space.
The architect told Dezeen, “The structure is a mix of timber and hempcrete blocks; wooden half-vaulted porticoes lean against a wall of hempcrete blocks for support.”
“This combination frees a maximum amount of space for sports practice and allows the large opening of two facades to the public space.”
The walls were half rendered, revealing the hempcrete blockwork
Lower sections of the walls were treated with hemp plaster – a technique typically used across the interiors of hempcrete buildings to conceal the material’s textural quality.
Other areas of the walls were left untreated to reveal the blockwork and aid the building’s acoustic performance.
Hempcrete removes the need for insulation.
Hemp has multiple qualities, including high thermal and acoustic performance. The hempcrete panels are fire-resistant to the REI 30 standard, which means they will maintain their integrity for 30 minutes in a fire.
“By [hempcrete’s] multiple qualities, hemp blocks make it possible to avoid the use of linings and to reduce the thickness of the walls to the essential,” said the studio.
“It also makes it possible to increase the practicable surface of the sports hall.”
It has a shower and changing spaces.
Hemp is increasingly in demand as a construction material due to its performance and its role as a biomaterial that helps reduce a construction project’s embodied carbon.
New laws in France calling for greater use of biomaterials are leading architects to experiment with Hemp. Architect Barrault Pressacco recently used Hemp and timber for an apartment building in Paris.
The hemp panels used for Lemoal Lemoal’s sports center were grown and fabricated within 500 kilometers of the construction site, minimizing transportation emissions and helping the local economy.
“Hempcrete is very popular due to its high qualities for construction, which is excellent news for sustainability,” said the studio.
“We choose to work with hempcrete because this sustainable and long-lasting material also has multiple performances, which allows us to reduce the thickness of the walls and create high-quality, spacious interior rooms.”
Walls were rendered with a hemp plaster.
The blocks used in the building can be assembled dry and have an interlocking system that does not require adhesives or mortar. The hempcrete also removes the need for additional insulation due to its natural insulating qualities.
“The innovation here is not to use hempcrete for a public building but the hempcrete blocks with dry interlocking.”
The blocks were created using hemp hurds and lime.
The studio explained that the sports hall is France’s first public building to use hempcrete blocks and hopes it will encourage others to consider using the material on future projects.
“The Pierre Chevet sports hall is the first new public facility built with hemp-concrete blocks. It helps to engage stakeholders in the building industry in ecological transition and reduces the number of different materials used,” said Lemoal Lemoal.
“The project was notably an opportunity to train a masonry company to this technique. Lighter than a traditional concrete block, but with a similar implementation, the hemp block can convince entrepreneurs to modify their prescriptions permanently.”
The bases of the walls were rendered in lime.
When used in constriction, Hemp is a carbon-sequestering material. Cambridge University researcher Darshil Shah explained that Hemp is one of the top CO2-to-biomass converters.
He stated that “[hemp] is even more effective than trees” at sequestering carbon and that “industrial hemp absorbs between eight to 15 tonnes of CO2 per hectare of cultivation.”
The blocks have an interlocking system.
Hemp is becoming more widely used as a construction material. A video at Margent Farm in Cambridge details how Hemp is grown, cultivated, and processed to build a home for the farm owner.
In Cambridge, Jonathan Tuckey Design recently announced its plans to add a hempcrete extension to a house in a conservation area.
Disclaimer: https://www.dezeen.com/2021/08/01/hempcrete-pierre-chevet-sports-hall-lemoal-lemoal
