Grand Designs Australia host Anthony Burke is in the Huon River region, Tasmania, tonight.
Dan Rawlins is a man who loves a challenge. Having grown up in Frankston, Victoria, and lived around the world, he set his heart on building a sustainable home in the Tasmanian bush.
After months of searching, he found the perfect property – a bush block above the town of Franklin, where the views of the Huon River literally stopped him in his tracks. Despite the site having no power or water, he and partner Chloe set up a solar powered life in a shipping container, with an outdoor kitchen and camp shower. They’ve lived there happily for more than three years.
During that time, Dan and his builder father Pete designed the perfect affordable, sustainable, off grid home. It would be made using hempcrete – an incredibly light, environmentally friendly cement-like material, consisting mostly of chopped up hemp. T
he product is not only breathable and highly insulating, but also carbon negative, meaning the house would suck carbon out of the environment over the course of its life. The plan was for Dan and Pete to build the house together – Pete being the brains, Dan the brawn.
But not long after work started, a devastating diagnosis changes everything. Dan is forced to push on with the house alone, despite his lack of building experience. Each stage was a new learning opportunity, which he met with unstoppable enthusiasm. Having constructed the house’s frame, the biggest single job was building the hempcrete walls.
The process requires an army of helpers, and Dan called on friends and neighbours, and even his mum, to lend a hand. As the walls went up, the question loomed large – would “having a crack” be enough to deliver a house worthy of the time, money and effort he’d given it, or would his lack of experience see his dream home fall short of his own high expectations?
8pm tonight on ABC.
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