What is behind Hollywood’s growing fascination with Australia?
“It’s not every day that @zacefron asks you to design his home,” Bakker wrote.
“Especially as it will be the first home he has ever owned!”
Bakker said Efron initially became interested in his sustainability work before approaching him about designing a private residence.
“Best of all, he wants me to push my ideas as far as they can go,” the designer said.
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The environmental activist also revealed that the team had spent more than 12 months testing alternatives to traditional concrete.
“We’re experimenting with making hemp blocks, replacing concrete with two materials that restore the environment — hemp, possibly the best plant on earth at repairing and restoring soil health, and of course oysters, nature’s ultimate ocean restorer,” he explained.
“I want to create a building material that I hope will become mainstream one day — one that naturally breathes, resists mould, is naturally fire-resistant and improves the indoor air Zac will ultimately breathe.”
The project’s environmental ambitions extend beyond the home’s main structure.
The six-bedroom, two-storey residence is expected to cost about $2.685 million and will be built on Efron’s rural property near Tomewin, roughly 75 kilometres from Byron Bay. (Vision art pictured)
The team has spent more than a year testing alternative construction materials intended to replace traditional concrete
“We’re experimenting with making hemp blocks” and using hemp and oyster-based materials as alternatives to concrete, Bakker explained
Bakker hopes to create a mainstream building material that breathes naturally, resists mould and fire, and improves indoor air quality
On May 23, Bakker provided another update, saying the kitchen and bathroom cabinetry would be made from plant-based boards developed through his Plantbord initiative.
“Although @zacefron’s kitchen and bathroom joinery will only use 200 boards, if we embrace this product we have the potential to help farmers restore soil health in a natural way,” he wrote.
The boards are produced from agricultural crop waste and marketed as a greener alternative to conventional building products.
Daily Mail previously reported on plans for Efron’s off-grid, zero-waste residence after development applications were submitted to Tweed Shire Council.
The six-bedroom, two-storey property is expected to cost approximately $2.685 million and will be built on Efron’s extensive rural holding near Tomewin, about 75 kilometres from Byron Bay.
Known as the “Futurecave,” the proposed residence was designed by Frank Burridge of Main Studio.
Efron’s name did not appear on the development application lodged with Tweed Shire Council. Instead, environmental activist and friend Joost Bakker was identified as the application’s proponent. Pictured: An example of a sustainable home shared on Bakker’s Instagram
Per the application, ‘Pods are dispersed on the site to celebrate the landscape, reduce building bulk, encourage connection to outdoors and frame key views’.
It described the residence as a ‘carbon-sequestering, habitat-creating home.’
Plans show a futuristic series of interconnected pods linked by walkways, providing approximately 830 square metres of living space.
The home will also feature a gym, green roofs covered in vegetation and a design focused on carbon sequestration – a process aimed at reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide.
The rainforest property itself boasts waterfalls and multiple creeks, making it an ideal location for the off-grid vision.
Sources close to the Hollywood star have hinted Zac could be looking to relocate Down Under permanently after listing his Los Angeles mansion for sale for $7.8million.
Zac has maintained strong ties to Australia since spending significant time in the country during the pandemic.
He surprised fans in Melbourne in 2024, by making an appearance at the Formula One Australian Grand Prix.
Efron also filmed Stan Original film Gold in the South Australian outback in 2020 before returning to film the second season of his hit Netflix documentary, Down to Earth with Zac Efron in 2021.
