In repurposing the barn into a habitable space, the architects retained the original wood frame structure and removed the attic to maximize usable interior space while staying within the 850-square-foot permitted size for accessory dwellings.
Source: A midcentury barn is thoughtfully reclaimed for a family retreat in California
“I am sad about the lack of recycling of building materials of our classic homes here in the Bay area. Recycling was once the pride of our city,” Davis told Berkeleyside. As interest in the re-use of original architectural pieces declined, she said, overhead expenses — garbage collection, PG&E, EBMUD, alarm systems, worker’s compensation and higher wages — have continued to grow, which has made it hard to keep the business running smoothly.
Source: Shop Talk: Ohmega Salvage; Totally Rad Gallery; Women Made — Berkeleyside
The demolition sorting operation at Zanker Recycling extracts concrete, sheetrock, asphalt and wood, among other debris, for recyclable markets. Photo by Veronica Weber.
The new deconstruction ordinance is expected to help the city divert 7,930 tons of waste annually (by contrast, the disposable-foodware ordinance that the council adopted at the same meeting would divert 290 tons). The deconstruction ordinance is also expected to reduce the city’s greenhouse-gas emissions by 22,300 metric tons annually (for the foodware ordinance, the number is 470 tons).
Source: To reduce waste, Palo Alto takes aim at demolition | News | Palo Alto Online |
If you can “Believe” it, superstar Cher is selling her four-bedroom, three-bedroom Beverly Hills home for only $2,499,000. This warm, inviting home has high ceilings and hardwood floors made from reclaimed wood throughout.
Source: Peek Inside Cher’s Beverly Hills ‘Retreat’ On Sale For $2.5 Mill | Beverly Hills, CA Patch
Jessica Tong adds roofing to a shed she built in her parents’ backyard, the first permitted cob structure in Berkeley. Photo: Natalie Orenstein
With these projects, and the Cob Research Institute, the goal is “to create a base of education and repetition so it can be used to convince code authorities, yes, this stuff can be permitted,” Fordice said. “There’s a lot of interest” in building with, and legitimizing cob, but not a lot of financial support, said Fordice, whose institute is volunteer-run.
Source: First permitted cob structure in Berkeley could pave way for more green building — Berkeleyside
UPcyclePOP aims to find new uses for the discarded, bringing artists to Folsom Boulevard pop-up market. Ed Fletcher The Sacramento Bee
The three days of UPcyclePOP attracted hundreds of people as more than a dozen local artists displayed and sold their works, from end tables made from car pistons to televisions with the appearance of old tube sets to ash trays turned into beautiful windows. Prior to the event, she knew none of the artists.
Source: Filmmaker launches new co-working space for creatives near Sacramento State | The Sacramento Bee
John Mangelos and brother-in-law Allen Velthoen check out the interior of the Barnwood Restaurant building as they wait for wood buyers to come through their front door. GLENN KAHL/The Bulletin
They had devised a plan to tear down five old barns at no cost to the farmers in the valley and used the wood for their new family restaurant 37 years ago.
Longtime chef and owner John Mangelos said the second floor wood in the “haunted” private dining room was originally intended for a Victorian home that was never built. He said he was fortunate to find it, but extremely puzzled how the young ghosts were included in the purchase.
Source: GOING FOR $2 A FOOT
To date, Kloehn has built 35 miniature homes for the homeless in Oakland and San Francisco. All construction materials (except for the wheels and a few other odds and ends), are sourced from garbage. He also runs workshops and give lectures, teaching other artists and handypeople the tricks of the trade. Following his lead, other builders have made homes for their neighbors in Los Angeles, Tucson, Arizona, and even abroad.
Recology’s AIR program has been operating for over 15 years. Started by Jo Hanson, a former artist and educator, it’s hosted over 100 artists since then who have been given 24-hour access to its equipment and studio spaces – all with the hope that it would inspire others to become better at recycling.
This bench, near Eiko’s Restaurant on First Street, is one eight benches that are being installed in downtown Napa. They are made by artist Eric Powell from recycled cast iron bookends from the Goodman Library. PHOTO J.L. Sousa/Register
The benches were made by Berkeley artist Eric Powell using decorative cast-iron bookends originally made for Napa’s Goodman Library on First Street at its 1902 opening. The bottom portions are made from eucalyptus robusta, an Australian hardwood prized for its durability and rot resistance.
“The response from business owners and the public has been very positive,” said city Planning Manager Ken MacNab. “The benches are unique and distinctive and are a great addition to the downtown streetscape.”
DeCaprio is the head of Land Action, a nonprofit that he created in 2011 to assist tenants with eviction defense. Two months ago, Land Action launched a campaign to build one hundred micro farms in Oakland over the next five years. The farms will be anchored by tiny homes — less than 120 square feet in size — that will house low-income Oakland residents.
The plan hinges on the use of so-called “tax-defaulted property” — land that is worth less than the taxes owed on it. In Alameda County, tax-defaulted parcels typically have been abandoned by their owners and can be publicly auctioned after five years. But attracting buyers willing to pay the back taxes and fines can be challenging.
via Turning Blight into Urban Gardens and Homes | East Bay Express.
Brothers Robert and Victor Pace at their salvage yard in Bulleen. Photo: Joe Armao
It is important work. As apartment towers rise in the suburbs, period homes are falling apace. The number of domestic demolitions registered with the Victorian Building Authority surged from 5632 in 2013 to 6738 in 2014.
Many of these are standard “crash and trash” jobs in which the home is destroyed and dumped in landfill. But Pace Demolitions is one of a handful of companies that treat these spaces with respect.
The buildings become organ donors, methodically stripped down to their barest elements, with all the most valuable materials harvested for resale, or recycling, thereby reducing waste and preserving a bit of history.
via How much of a demolished house can you salvage – try 98 per cent.
Heska’s Sugar Shack in Mentone received Redlands Conservancy’s Adaptive Reuse Award. Courtesy Photo
Heska King bought the 1,600-square-foot house in 2004 to adaptively reuse it for her coffee house. Maintaining the original windows, fireplace and much of the original floor plan, King and her husband kept the structure’s historic character, a factor which contributes to the attraction their customers feel toward Sugar Shack.
via Heska’s Sugar Shack in Mentone receives Adaptive Reuse Award.
The adaptively reused Burlingame Garage in San Diego’s South Park neighborhood kept the main features of the building. Courtesy Photo.
After clean-up of the buildings, renovation started in 2013 and the Headquarters opened 11 months later, at a cost of $43 million, with 25 shops and four big restaurants. General manager Terry Hall of Terramarc Centers pointed out the original windows and doors, refurbished original iron work, refurbished original roof tiles and the building details that many of the tenants embraced, including window bars used in the cell blocks.
Starbucks chose a corner space that had once been a cell block.
via Redlands Conservancy tours adaptively reused buildings in San Diego.
Saltwater’s pastry chef Stacy Lauer oversaw the restaurant design. The space was formerly a pizza restaurant; Lauer took out the beams to open up the room and reveal the skylights, and added a wall of built-in shelving for storage and wine display.
via The World Is His Oyster: Saltwater in Inverness, CA: Remodelista.
The works with homeowners and business owners to salvage material during a remodeling or other construction project. The group aims to keep unnecessary waste from piling up at landfills. PHOTOS: COURTESY OF DECONSTRUCTION AND REUSE NETWORK
“There’s a growing awareness of the (deconstruction) process,” Schilling said. “Younger developers are looking for more progressive solutions or looking for competitive advantages.”
The Deconstruction and ReUse Network has averaged 35 to 60 deconstruction projects per year since they started in 2007, Schilling said. The vast majority are residential projects, though commercial businesses have begun reaching out over the past three years.
“That’s a trend we definitely hope continues. That’s where there’s a great deal of waste,” Schilling said.
via Deconstruction and ReUse Network helps salvage remodel materials – The Orange County Register.
In the 1970’s David Easton began his innovative work modernizing rammed earth building techniques to
fit into California’s stringent building codes. Despite his success with Rammed Earth Works, David noticed that rammed earth was a hard wide-spread sell because engineers were apprehensive to understand it and upfront cost-focused contractors did not want to wait through the lifecycle for its benefits. He decided to make sustainable impact by focusing on a more familiar and lower cost alternative, which led to the development of the Watershed Block.
Image Credit Jacob Snavely
David’s company, Watershed Materials supplies low-concrete masonry blocks that are used like common CMUs, concrete masonry units, with half the embodied energy. By piggy-backing onto the already known CMU standards and uses, these blocks are an easy-to-sell green alternative. Watershed Blocks have many of the same benefits as rammed earth including long lifespan, high thermal mass, and natural material use at a much lower price.
“I like to believe we are not only reducing carbon in our atmosphere, but saving a time honored building technique” adds Watershed employee, Dan Alvarado. Revitalizing the art of masonry is a great asset of this company as they open up a sustainable job market for these skilled craftspeople. The beauty of the natural colors of the local aggregate that make up Watershed Blocks is apparent in the pixelated masonry walls they create that attract architects and designers. When speaking of his favorite building material, earth, Dan states “there is a character to earth buildings that is hard to define. You feel connected to it, protected by it.” That connection is essential to sustainable structures and truly unique to buildings of natural materials.
Image Credit Jacob Snavely
Image Credit Jacob Snavely
Image Credit Jacob Snavely
Watershed Blocks are still a little more expensive than their CMU counterparts but the company projects that improvement in production and inevitable larger market adoption will lower retail prices. If more companies consider full life cycle costs, the savings are apparent even now. Green materials that supply LEED points are already desirable and Watershed is clearly getting noticed, recently being selected as a finalist for SXSW’s Eco Startup Showcase Competition. As more companies like Watershed modernize and familiarize natural building techniques the beauty and health of our built environment will benefit.
Image Credit Jacob Snavely
Image Credit Mark Lutaringer
From Trash to Floating Christmas Tree from Xplore on Vimeo.
The marine sculpture was made from reclaimed fishing nets, a mast, strands of lights and a leaky old boat.
And by spruced up, I mean totally revamped with just-right amenities like a soaking tub, an outdoor shower and the comfiest twin leather armchairs in front of the hearth made of salvaged wood. The decor is an homage to the structure’s original function: vintage fishing nets, worn wooden oars and a collection of black-and-white photos that link the place to its past.
Domus Development converted a 1917 Masonic temple and an 1872 City Hall into the Temple Art Lofts, an affordable housing community for artists. The building contains 29 efficiencies, one-bedrooms, and two-bedrooms, as well as studio spaces where the residents can work.
The two integrated as many recycled, salvaged, low-impact materials into their design as possible. A good amount of building material was acquired for free from Craigslist. Seconds, mis-sized, and salvaged materials were sourced from their local lumbar yard and the Restore.
via Tim and Hannah’s Affordable DIY Self-Sustainable Micro Cabin House Tour | Apartment Therapy.
“We are experiencing solid growth throughout California, particularly in the Los Angeles area so we are delighted to have Carrie on board with us,” says Lorenz Shilling, DRN president and founder. “Her hands-on experience in home remodeling and passion for reuse and recycling is a great advantage for us in being able to support the needs of our partners and reach our goals as an organization.”
via Carrie Coffey Joins Deconstruction ReUse Network in Los Angeles.
Great article in the New York Times this week on blight in California.
Ms. McLaughlin if you are reading this, we are solidly behind you and Richmond. If there is anything we can do to help, please let us know!
The mayor’s plan would buy and refinance underwater mortgages in an attempt to save the city from more boarded-up houses. Jim Wilson/The New York Times
Ms. McLaughlin has a plan to help the many Richmond residents who owe more money on their houses than their houses are worth, but it’s one that banks like Wells Fargo, large asset managers like
Pimco and BlackRock, real estate interests and even Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance giants, have tried to quash. Her idea involves a novel use of the power of eminent domain to bail out homeowners by buying up and then forgiving mortgage debt.
But the financial institutions have warned that mortgage lending would halt in any city that tried eminent domain — and they have lobbied Congress to ensure that the threat is not an empty one. Opponents have filed federal lawsuits, while real estate interests have made robocalls to residents and sent mass mailers warning that the plan would allow “slick, politically connected” investors to “take houses on the cheap.” (The idea is actually to buy mortgages, not houses.)
via Eminent Domain: A Long Shot Against Blight – NYTimes.com.
“What we really have been striving for is to have people come to us with creative ideas for reusing existing buildings in all sorts of different ways,” Steve Gerhardt, senior planner for Long Beach Development Services’ Planning Bureau, told the Business Journal.
Adaptive reuse, as it is to be defined in the new ordinance, is “a construction or remodeling project that reconfigures existing spaces, structures or buildings to accommodate a new use or to accommodate another purpose than what it was originally designed for.”
While the official ordinance has yet to be drawn up by the city attorney, a staff report summarizing it indicates that, in addition to concretely defining adaptive reuse, it will establish a requirement for a site plan review for most adaptive reuse projects. The ordinance will also accommodate the current setback and height of existing buildings as well as their often-limited parking availability.
via New Ordinance To Lay Groundwork For Adaptive Reuse Projects In Long Beach.
As California’s wine industry continues to grow, vintners are searching for suitable areas to grow grapes outside of the valleys and closer to the coast. But Spanish winemaker Artesa Vineyards and Winery is taking this quest too far with plans to destroy 154 acres of coastal redwoods and Douglas firs to make space for new grapevines. With one study indicating that areas suitable for vineyards in the world’s major wine-producing regions could shrink between 19 and 73 percent by 2050, it’s likely that the situation will get worse before it gets better.
Contact Sierra Club’s Redwood Chapter to see how you can help stop this.
photo by Gary Leonard
Tom Gilmore’s Old Bank District, which includes historic constructions such as the San Fernando Building (shown), was the first project to test the city’s Adaptive Reuse Ordinance. City officials are looking at making some changes to the ordinance to benefit more projects.
Alamo Drafthouse could make use of California’s Mills Act, which can reduce property taxes through agreed renovations and preservation of the existing historic New Mission Theater. Photo by Andy Sweet.
Before reuse began in 1996, “you could shoot a cannonball down the street and not hit anyone,” Sandmeier said. Today, the number of residential units has grown from 11,000 to 40,000.
The adaptive reuse also speaks to San Francisco’s current acute housing shortage and increasing rent prices, which often pushes young urbanites across the Bay and reduces access to low-income communities, which can be seen in the sprawling gentrification of the Mission District.
“I do think that adaptive reuse alone does not ensure cultural preservation and this is why other planning tools need to be developed to promote cultural preservation,” said San Francisco Architectural Heritage Project Manager Desiree Smith. Her organization is working on preservation planning in the Japantown and South of Market Districts, like the three-story tall St. Joseph’s Cathedral, which is to be redeveloped into offices.
The preservation of historic buildings also provides a “tangible” connection to the past, said Smith.
Read the entire article via Creative Historic Reuse Inspires Urban Planning | Fog City Journal it’s fantastic!