Hemp goes on show at Saturday Indesign.
Turns out an old crop can learn a few new tricks.
Murray Industrial Hemp joins Wild Materials and BACHLI at Surry Hills for From Fibre to Form, showing what an Australian-grown crop can become when it meets manufacturing.
The installation pairs handcrafted hemp building blocks with BACHLI’s Array sofa, exploring how material choices shape healthier, lower-carbon spaces – from the buildings we live and work in to the furniture inside them.
Industrial hemp is fast-growing and fully renewable. Turned into building products, it delivers thermal efficiency, vapour permeability, natural resistance to moisture, mould and vermin, and stores carbon within the building fabric – supporting homes that perform well for the people living in them.
For MIH, the installation is a practical example of hemp moving from crop to building material.
Based in Barham, NSW, MIH works with growers and researchers to develop industrial hemp products and help build a viable Australian industrial hemp industry – with regional manufacturing at the centre of that model.
“We can build a home that costs the same, or a little more, but the long-term energy efficiency becomes part of the decision to use the product,” says MIH Director Leigh Fletcher.
The hemp blocks on display are handcrafted by Alan Probert, whose work shares MIH’s interest in biogenic design and low-carbon construction. MIH is working with Wild Materials, founded by licensed NSW builder Sarah Heys, to help bring hemp building products into mainstream construction and make them easier for architects, designers and builders to understand, specify and use.
BACHLI brings that material story into a design context, placing hemp alongside furniture designed around longevity, adaptability and responsible manufacturing.
Together, the collaborators show how the materials used to construct a building and the objects within it can be considered as part of the same broader approach to healthier, lower-carbon spaces.
From Fibre to Form
BACHLI Furniture
270 Devonshire Street, Surry Hills NSW
Saturday Indesign – on view through Saturday 12 September 2026
About Murray Industrial Hemp
Murray Industrial Hemp works with growers, researchers and manufacturers to turn agricultural resources into materials that create healthier, more energy-efficient homes and commercial buildings.
MIH is on a mission to build a sustainable industry that gets stronger over time – one that creates opportunities for the people who grow, make, sell and use what it produces.
Based in Barham, NSW, MIH is developing manufacturing capability and creating new markets that show what is possible when agriculture and industry work together.
Media contact
Leigh Fletcher
Leigh.Fletcher@murrayindustrialhemp.com.au
M +61 429 144 743