A house on Vancouver’s West Side being dismantled by the group Unbuilders is seen on Sept. 30, 2020.
“What you’re going to see over the next five years is a rollout of deconstruction policy across the board,” said Corniel. “So, we’re the first of our kind in Canada, doing what we do, but this will be the typical way that houses are taken down and taken apart in the future.”
Source: Vancouver company leads the way in innovative home deconstruction | CTV News
“We’re seeing these forests disappear overnight. It’s happening so fast, and there’s very little old growth left in this part of B.C. It’s an environmental crisis that’s no less tragic than the loss of coral reefs and tropical rainforests.”
The goal of this event is therefore to bring together individuals and organizations active in related areas of heritage conservation, urban, architectural and construction history, critical heritage and discard studies, building deconstruction, sustainable materials and waste management, to address these gaps and possibilities for bridging between these areas as part of projects, policies, research or creative practices.
Source: symposium overview – WASTE HERITAGE deconstruction, salvage & re-use
Jackie Schmidt, president of Heritage Regina, stands among some of the materials which will be included in an online auction being put on by Heritage Regina. Many of the items are building materials removed from the College Avenue Campus of the University of Regina. BRANDON HARDER / REGINA LEADER-POST
Schmidt noted that much of the wood is old-growth wood from trees that were more than 100 years old.“Every lot has a historical story behind it,” said Schmidt. “These are architecturally significant. They belonged to the (College Avenue Campus) and we want to make sure that they are not put into the landfill.”
Source: Old building materials from College Avenue Campus being auctioned off | Regina Leader-Post
BN Steel and Metals owner Mark Riffel calls the metal recycled dinosaur in front of his shop Rusty. (Guy Quenneville/CBC)
“There is a reuse side to things that [don’t] just have to be melted down and made into the same old piece of steel or plate or pipe. There’s a creative side.”
LAUREN MILLER
Lynne and her contractor rescued a nearby barn (that had been destroyed in a tornado) to form the bones of the treehouse. Salvaged windows (including stained glass from an old church) complete the vintage look.
Source: Lynne Knowlton Tiny House – Toronto Tiny House Cabin
The addition of the L-shaped, two-wing building offers students a study in contrasts between these two modern construction methods, as well as between 19th-century-style timber construction and 21st-century CLT construction. Levitt said CLT was a natural choice considering the importance of timber and wood resources to northern Ontario, although there was little precedent for its institutional application in Canada at the time, much less on this scale.
Source: New architecture school brings lessons to life – REMI Network
Feature wall made from reclaimed Douglas Fir, sourced locally in Vancouver, by furniture maker Brooke Wingrove of Reclaimed Vancouver Photo: Reclaimed Vancouver for The Home Front: Reclaiming Vancouver’s history through furniture and interior design by Rebecca Keillor [PNG Merlin Archive]
“I like using reclaimed wood because I like the look of it,” says Wingrove. “That’s the main thing for me, and then second is using a recycled product. But (for) most people that contact me, it’s the recycling of the wood that’s the main interest for them. They always comment that it saves cutting other trees down, and they love the fact that it’s been in a Vancouver building and now it’s in their house.”
Source: The Home Front: Reclaiming city’s history through furniture and design | Vancouver Sun
PMV Canada says it will demolish these vacant buildings at 120 and 126 Main Street over the next two weeks. (Google Inc.)
“We could repurpose some of those materials, not see them end up in landfills like other demolitions,” said Janelle Russell, Heritage Saint John’s vice-president.”There’s, of course, the front trim, there’s staircases, banisters. … A lot of the buildings in this area are made out of virgin wood, so they’re very strong, and the wood is still good and solid.
Source: Heritage group can have ‘whatever it wants’ from doomed buildings | CBC News
Submitted A picture of the Red Bridge before it was updated in 2005.
The public works crew is going to take timbers and planks from the bridge to make a number of different items including a pergola for above the entry sign near Hilltop Esso. The wood will also be used to build a message board in the pocket park along with perhaps wood guards for trees or other items. “It’s really neat they they are going to use some of this old wood to do these new projects. I’m so glad they had the foresight to hold onto it,” she said.
Source: Village to upcycle old bridge in beautification project – Keremeos Review
“Heritage is one of our main economic drivers in the city. The deconstruction policy — if we had one — would address salvaging any materials in the case where demolition is absolutely necessary.”
Source: St. John’s council encouraging ‘responsible demolition’ | Local | News | The Telegram
The shed is among five buildings that comprise the last traditional smoked-herring facility in the U.S., and an organization called Lubec Landmarks has worked for almost 25 years to preserve it. Lubec Landmarks President Rachel Rubeor said legal tangles, including salvage rights claims by some Canadian citizens, could doom the building.
Source: Storm blew historic building to Canada; Maine wants it back | Nation | postbulletin.com
Kicking off Pallets on the Town
Kicking off Pallets on the Town, a contest that is all about promoting community spirit, are: from left, Doug Runions, Jason Duguay, Lori Runions, Don Beavis, Janice Bell and Joan Sheppard. Sue Dickens/Metroland
“I am always looking for ways to promote Campbellford and community spirit so it started there . . . and we have a pallet factory here and people are into reduce, reuse, recycle, and upcycle so we thought we could form a festival around pallets . . . so that became Pallets on the Town,” said Joan Sheppard, who is organizing the project and inspiring others to get involved.
Source: Pallets on the Town contest hypes recycling and upcycling
The Corkman Irish pub in Carlton, which was demolished illegally. Photo: Eddie Jim
The developers have been slammed for destroying the 159-year-old pub, formerly known as the Carlton Inn, and are now under investigation from the Victorian Building Authority, the City of Melbourne, the EPA, WorkCover and Heritage Victoria.
Source: Carlton pub owners fined more than $15,000 for leaving asbestos waste uncovered
Claude Villeneuve had barn two barn walls stolen earlier this week. (Radio-Canada)
Villeneuve estimates the thieves made off with about $2,000 worth of wood. He said he’s been approached several times by prospective buyers interested in the planks that compose the sides his barn. He had always rebuffed them, given that his farm still makes used of the barn to store hay. But now Villeneuve is considering taking down what remains of the barn to salvage the wood. “At least they left me one wall,” he said, laughing.
Source: Saguenay man has barn walls stolen. Are design trends to blame? – Montreal – CBC News
“I myself am heartbroken that this observatory is being taken down. We did not realize that some people would be upset with us trying to help recycle some of the material instead of it just being disposed of. We only are allowed to use new material for our builds, we sell recycled material at our ReStores to help us build affordable housing. “To set the record straight we have been working on affordable housing with the city for over a year. Due to the concerns put forward we will withdraw our service of helping to recycle the material when it is disposed of.”
Source: Habitat For Humanity withdraws from observatory deconstruction project – Mission City Record
“It was just a natural thought process for us,” said Saad. “While this is a great repurpose of this furniture, it would give it a second life, and really give some people a fresh start with their new lives in Canada.”
Source: Furniture from renovated hotel suites going to refugees | CTV Winnipeg News
“Why don’t you take that garbage and put it in your backyard,” one resident shouted at Bellefontaine.
Kiann Management wants to rezone 38-acres of land along Highway 7 and use it to sort and recycle construction and demolition waste.
via Hundreds show up to public meeting over proposed waste site in Lake Echo – Halifax | Globalnews.ca.
Many of the problems that have prevented waste reduction in the C&D sector have little to do with the reuse or recyclability of the material being thrown away. In fact, StatsCan released a report in 2008 which noted that 75% of material sent to landfill still had valuable life left in it.
via It’s time to tackle construction and demolition waste on Environmental XPRT.
Buildings – The former airport hangars are being deconstructed instead of demolished. Through the deconstruction process, a building is slowly dismantled to allow the building materials to be sorted for recycling, reuse or waste management.
via Journal Of Commerce – Edmonton project will utilize demolition debris for new projects.
Michael Gerrand from Salvage Solutions, a company in Pincher Creek, Alberta that tears down old barns, then sells the wood and extras for flooring, doors and furniture. Photograph by: Greg Southam , Edmonton Journal
“It adds a soul to a house,” Gerrand said of the antique wood additions. “All I see from my drive up from Pincher Creek to Edmonton is thousands of soulless houses and I think that there’s a market to putting a little bit of soul into some of these places and a little bit of history. I think people want it.
“I think Albertans, just like they want to know where their food comes from nowadays, I think they’d be pretty interested to know where some of their building materials came from.”
via Alberta history preserved by salvaging antique wood for home renos.
A salvage effort is set to recover some bricks as souvenirs from Connaught School in Regina. (CBC)
According to Elliot, some of the material includes decorative limestone and terrazzo pieces along with intact bricks.
Elliot said she learned that the bricks were destined to be crushed.
“Some of it may be used for roadways,” she said. “But … it sounded like they were just pulverizing it into the landfill itself.”
via Connaught bricks to be salvaged from Regina dump – Saskatchewan – CBC News.
Reclaimed barnboard in use on Toronto’s Danforth. Photo by Eric Nay.
I have wanted to write about Urban Tree Salvage in Toronto for a long time, and this plague of pests has given me a most unfortunate opportunity to do so. The desire for reclaimed hardwood is growing across Canada, and this new/old material is giving rise to numerous innovative material uses that are upping the design ante for those architects and designers who choose to work with vintage boards and old growth beams. From knotty reclaimed barnwood siding to massive heart pine beams, reclaimed wood is providing a treasure trove of nature’s finest material just aching to be used one more time.
via Salvaging Beetlemania | A\J – Canada’s Environmental Voice.
The Building Envelope Thermal Analysis (BETA) Guide outlines how to effectively account for thermal bridging and is backed up by an extensive catalogue of thermal performance data. This information is essential for practitioners evaluating building envelope thermal performance.
Researchers and regulators will be interested in the sections focused on market transformation, which includes an evaluation of cost effectiveness and energy savings in common large building types.
Pilon is no stranger to finding an “adaptive reuse” for heritage buildings in the downtown. He’s currently renovating and expanding Queen Street United Church into condominiums.
via Heritage makeover: Downtown buildings to get ‘adaptive reuse’.
WHISTLER SHOW Burns Jennings, right, made a key-card return box, above, which led to an exhibition of his furniture.
As well as found wood or wood that “drops by,” Jennings also follows a hydro pole protection program on Bowen Island. Any trees that come down because they are in danger of falling onto a hydro line are converted into furniture via his mill.
He uses large pieces of driftwood from the beach, too.
The result is, to say the least, sculptural.
via Recycling old wood into new heirlooms | Arts | Pique Newsmagazine | Whistler, CANADA.
May we introduce to you Urban Tree Salvage from Toronto, Canada. Oh, and their amazing live edge tables.
Our reclaimed lumber and timber come from a variety of local sources. Barns across Ontario are slowly falling down if they have not been repaired from years of non-use. Ontario barns that were built many years ago were all constructed with locally grown trees that were harvested from the build location and made into lumber. The hardiness zone of the barn as well as the date the barn was built usually dictated what material was used for construction. Reclaimed barnboard is typically made of pine, hemlock and spruce and is offered in grey board, brown board, red board and threshing.
Urban Tree Salvage also recycles demolition and construction waste such as excavated historical timbers that were discovered when building condominiums in downtown Toronto and reclaimed building timbers that were salvaged from old buildings around Ontario. Urban Tree Salvage reclaims these materials and sells them as raw lumber and furniture such as reclaimed dining tables, reclaimed coffee tables, reclaimed console tables and reclaimed benches.
A Canadian company called Trashswag has created an application that allows local residents to map household items such as used furniture and scrap metal so that others may collect them.
Read the entire article here via Trashswag maps salvageable items left on street so others can find them (Wired UK).
Name: Lynne
Location: Rural countryside outside of Durham, Ontario, Canada
We are a family of 6, living in the countryside 2 hours northwest of Toronto. I am an interior designer and I love to travel. Most of my designs are inspired by travel and by the use of organic, natural elements. Two years ago, a friend of ours lost their barn to a tornado. The barn was beyond repair. Rather than see it burned, we bought the barn boards, beams and tin roof — and hired the local Amish to help us to transfer the barn to our property.
We started with a small treehouse base, with an idea to have a small wrap around porch. It was so FUN to build, we decided to add a second floor, and only have a small front porch to allow a bit of extra space for a wee kitchenette and wood stove. The project grew as our excitement grew. We, as adults, were having more fun than the kids with the treehouse!
Most of the treehouse is built from the reclaimed barn, and the reminder of the items were provided by our friends. The kitchenette counter is from an old tree, the wood stove was from our old stone house, the porcelain sink was from our neighbor’s yard…..even a huge slide…it was from an old dismantled playground. The slide is a favourite of my 83 year old grandma. She loves it !
We sleep in the treehouse as often as possible ( with the exception of the cold winter nights). We hear the sounds of the trees, the trickle sounds of the rain and fall asleep under the stars.
Best sleep ever !!!
Creating the treehouse was a labour of love. Our friends and family adore it. I often blog about the treehouse and other outdoor projects (we built our pool in an old stone barn foundation).
Thanks, Lynne! Readers, check out Lynne’s blog here.
via Lynne’s Recycled Treehouse My Great Outdoors | Apartment Therapy.