Hemp Hotel: The World’s Tallest Building Constructed with Industrial Hemp Opens in South Africa

 The world’s tallest building constructed using industrial hemp will soon open in South Africa. The 12-story Hemp Hotel in Cape Town boasts a magnificent view of Table Mountain and has a minimal ecological impact. The hotel, which will have 54 rooms, is being built using “hempcrete” blocks made from the cannabis plant.

The blocks are fire-resistant, climate-friendly, and have excellent insulation properties, making them increasingly popular in the construction industry. The blocks used in the Hemp Hotel are carbon negative, meaning their production absorbs more planet-warming gases than it emits. The industrial hemp used in the hotel had to be imported from Britain, but South Africa is now issuing cultivation permits for local production.

The country’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has identified the hemp and cannabis sector as a priority area for economic growth, with the potential to create over 130,000 jobs. Although hemp is 20% more expensive to build with than conventional materials, Afrimat Hemp, the South African construction group responsible for producing the bricks, sees “huge opportunities” for its green bricks in the race to reduce carbon emissions.

The carbon footprint of a 40 square meter house built with hemp is three tons of CO2 lower than that of a conventional building. The hotel has been ranked as the “tallest building to incorporate hemp-based materials in the world” by the International Hemp Building Association.