12th November 2026

• The Duchy of Cornwall has partnered with HEMSPAN® to build the UK’s first BIOHAUS® home, using natural hemp insulation, hemp particle board, and off-site timber framing to reduce construction carbon emissions.
• The project will help the Duchy further understand how natural building materials could be utilised in future housing developments, supporting its ambition to become net zero by 2032.

The Duchy of Cornwall has partnered with sustainable construction specialist HEMSPAN® to build a new farmhouse in Mere, Wiltshire, using hemp as a key building material alongside structural timber to help reduce the environmental impact of construction.

Named Meadow View, the property is the UK's first BIOHAUS® home, built using a construction system that combines hemp-based insulation and hemp composite materials with a timber frame. The project forms part of the Duchy's wider work to explore lower-carbon construction methods while maintaining the quality of its homes, supporting its commitment to becoming a net zero estate by the end of 2032.

The project was highly commended for Green Building of the Year at the UK Green Business Awards in June 2026, recognising its approach to lower-carbon construction. An independent design-stage assessment estimates that the building's whole-life embodied carbon will be 75% better than the Royal Institute of British Architects' (RIBA) 2030 target.

“Low-carbon construction solutions are here, and high-performing homes don't have to look 'net zero'. Meadow View has provided us with a valuable opportunity to explore with HEMSPAN®, how the building system will perform in the real world and offered insights into the challenges faced when trying to deliver more innovative, non-standard forms of construction. The lessons learned at Meadow View and other projects across the estate are helping demonstrate how more sustainable approaches to housebuilding can be adopted across future developments on the estate”.

With hemp absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as it grows, Meadow View has natural hemp fibre insulation and hemp particle board alongside a timber frame. This creates an energy-efficient home that retains the traditional appearance of a rural farmhouse. Meadow View’s construction contains hemp-based materials equivalent to five hectares of hemp, which absorbed an estimated up to 60 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as it grew.

Meadow View has an EPC A rating, with a heating demand almost 90% lower than the average UK home. Heating and hot water are provided by an air-source heat pump, with a heat-recovery ventilation system that additionally provides cool, fresh air in the summer via a geothermal intake. The property also has 13.2 kWp of solar panels and a home battery and is expected to generate more renewable energy than it uses over the course of a year, with surplus electricity exported to the grid.

The Duchy will monitor Meadow View's energy performance once occupied and use what it learns to inform future developments, with the aim of creating homes that are comfortable and healthy for residents, affordable to heat and cool, and lower in carbon emissions.

“Natural materials like timber building frames and hemp insulation are the future for comfortable, healthy, and low-carbon homes. When combined with modern technologies like heat pumps and solar panels, residents’ costs to heat and cool these homes come right down. Our partnership with HEMSPAN® to produce their first BIOHAUS® has shown that these homes can be delivered today. The learnings we are gathering through this, and other partnerships will help ensure that the next generation of Duchy homes will set the standard for low-carbon construction for years to come.”

“Meadow View is the first deployment of the BIOHAUS® system, and with support from the Duchy of Cornwall, we have been able to see how far we can push whole-life carbon emissions for new homes. This house alone contains the equivalent of approximately five hectares of industrial hemp, and we believe homes built this way in the future could save a tonne of carbon for every square metre of habitable space compared with conventional construction. UK-grown, UK-processed bio-based materials are a major opportunity to decarbonise construction and grow our economy at the same time, by onshoring supply chains.”