Hollywood star Zac Efron has teamed up with environmental activist and designer Joost Bakker to design his sustainable Australian home.

The Iron Claw star purchased a 128-hectare plot in the NSW northern rivers town of Tomewin for $2 million back in 2020.

Efron was in Australia at the time shooting action-thriller Gold, and during the Covid lockdowns he bunkered down in Byron Bay.

The star of High School Musical ended up selling his Los Angeles home in 2021 to make the move permanent.

“As of now, he has no plans to live permanently in LA again,” a source told People. “He loves Australia and considers it his home.”

Last week, Bakker announced on Instagram that he was collaborating with Efron to design a completely sustainable home.

“It’s not everyday of the week that Zac Efron asks you to design his home, I am beyond excited!” Bakker wrote in the caption.

“Zac fell in love with [Bakker’s zero-waste idea] Future Food System and then our family home in Monbulk and now wants a home of his own – and best of all he wants me to push my ideas as far as they can go.”

Bakker went on to reveal that he has been experimenting for the past year with hemp and oyster shells to create blocks that are a more environmentally-friendly building material than concrete.

“We are using the most cutting-edge technology [invented by the Romans 2000+ years ago],” he wrote.

“I want to create a building material that I hope will become mainstream one day. A material that naturally breathes, is anti-mould, naturally fire-resistant and improves the indoor air Zac will ultimately breathe.”

Bakker with one of his innovative hemp blocks. Photo: Instagram

Comments on the post were supportive and enthusiastic about the partnership and methods.

“It’s great to see Zac investing in a better future for our planet. Well done to you both,” Melbourne architecture studio Breathe wrote.

Design publications expressed excitement for the project. Est Living wrote “Brilliant Joost Bakker and Zac Efron, can’t wait to see how far you push the future food system. Both visionaries”. Green Magazine said “Looking forward to this one, Joost”.

Surfer Tom Silverwood said “Holy wow! Beyond amazing Joost! Push that boundary to the limit!”

Bakker credited two businesses with helping supply produce for the blocks, hemp producer Agrico Produce and shell recycling project Shuck Don’t Chuck.

This is not the first time Bakker has used hemp in a project.

In one of his recent Melbourne works, a studio at Woodleigh School in Langwarrin South, the entire project was made from Australian-grown hemp.

Woodleigh School has since won a Victorian Premier’s Design Award.

According to the school’s website, the challenge for the build was “Why build a school when you can build an ecosystem?”.

Republished from View.com.au