Above: Built for transporting cargo, the train cars date from the early 20th century and have been fully refurbished for year-round living: each has a sitting room, full kitchen, bedroom, and bath.
Join us for a tour of our favorite attraction, the two antique railway carriages that they converted into storybook guest quarters, each overlooking a lake.
Source: Ultimate Cozy Cabins: Rustic Retreats Made from Converted Antique Train Cars
Keith Raymond designs and builds houses using reclaimed materials. ISLANDER PHOTOS BY SARAH HINCKLEY
Different types of wood aren’t the only thing Raymond seeks to salvage from assorted online sites. He also finds windows, appliances, tiles and fixtures. Recently, Raymond had a lead on a slate sink that slipped through his fingers.
Source: Salvage beauty: Builder delights in designing with discards – Mount Desert Islander
“Salvaged from old buildings or junkyards, these items ensure a home’s uniqueness,” says George DeMarco, real estate agent with Halstead Manhattan, “and can boost resale value if done well. Walking into new construction and seeing a blast from the architectural past often can make just enough difference in the buyer’s mind to help make the sale.”
Image courtesy of John Folan
Millvale Moose is an adaptive reuse project that won an AIA Pennsylvania Honor Award and a Design Pittsburgh Certificate of Merit.
The Millvale Moose project is an adaptive reuse of an abandoned Moose Lodge in Millvale, Pennsylvania, that transformed an underutilized structure into a public venue housing a commercial kitchen and a communal social space. The project used reconstituted marble slabs and lumber from buildings that were taken down.
HildaWeges | Adobe Stock
Frankly, the design industry just isn’t thinking about what will happen at the end of material life. And if the design industry isn’t thinking about it, and isn’t asking manufacturers to create products that cater to these needs, the result is a vast disconnect between how and what we are putting into our buildings and the ability to reuse or recycle these items at the end of their initial lives.
Source: The importance of materials recovery coordination in construction & demolition – Waste Today
[Vicious Squid] dug in to the fertile soil of the garden implement world and cultivated a three-string upright bass with a rich, soulful sound from a familiar workhorse — an aluminium wheelbarrow.
Much of the build is made from reclaimed wood, like the solid mahogany neck from an old door frame, and a broom handle.
Image: Photo of two metal circles on metal stands filled with multicolored resin and automative paint starbursts planted outside the artist’s studio like flowers. Photo by Debra Domal
These human-made flowers, grown from repurposed materials, seem perfectly at home in nature.
Source: Meet local 3D artist Gregory Stallmeyer : Arts : Smile Politely
Jenni and Andy Wilson’s move to a 1923 Tudor Revival on South Edisto was, for Jenni, a dream come true. Marrying old and new architecture with a classic cottage feel, the renovation is masterful. The 100 to 200 year old reclaimed French terracotta floor tiles in the kitchen are the pièces de résistance, and the ILVE Italian 48-inch black enameled range with brass claw feet is a much used and loved focal point.
The island is made from reclaimed heart pine from the house.
Source: Sweet Olive Cottage – Columbia Metropolitan Magazine
A stylish pair of Concorde cufflinks, casted using metal from the air intake assembly of Concorde 101
Credit: ASID
Excess tabletops from the old office were cut to make adjustable shelving in the gallery wall, and millwork was reused in the print and model shop rooms. Overall, 16% of the total material cost for the project was salvaged and repurposed from the old office. 68% of the furniture was also reused (amounting to $100,000 savings).
Source: Perkins and Will StudioIDS Office Shows the Impact of Adaptive Reuse
The new visitor’s center.
The wood cladding is made from reclaimed redwood wine tank staves, an homage to the origins of winemaking in Napa, and custom light fixtures are also made from staves of retired Cakebread casks.
Source: Cakebread Debuts a Sustainable and Gorgeous New Winery – Robb Report
Back at the beginning of the 1900s, Equihen Plage was known, as one of the best spots for fishing. As many boats were left to be destroyed on the shore, local fishermen used them as roofs for their handmade shelters. At the time, the area was called Quartier des Quilles en l’Air: the neighborhood of keels in the air.
Source: Equihen Plage: Village Of Upside Down Boat Houses – Unusual Places
PHOTO: Mr Aitken says the main stairs are made with wood from a settler’s hut built in the 1880s. (ABC News: Anna Hartley)
The landscape architect, now 70, salvaged centuries-old stones and wooden beams from historical buildings, including the city’s courthouses, jails and flour mills which have since been lost.
Dale Galvin grinds nails from roofing along Old Englewood Road. Some of the roofing will be used to create artwork by artists Lisa McQueen and Gary Carlberg. Sun Photos by Sandy Macys
“People are stopping by asking for a piece of it because it’s a part of their childhood,” Parks said. “It was a part of my life. This is my grandmother’s homestead. My mother was born in 1924 and was raised here.”
The bar has been decked out in red and blue and tartan and you can sit on sheepskin in front of the vintage fireplace.
Source: TWA Hotel Pool Turns into a Rooftop Ski Chalet for the Winter – Untapped New York
Most of the project has been built using reclaimed materials from various projects over the years. The windows are all steel sash from, at last count, five different remodel projects. The pool is perhaps the most notable example; it used to be a water tank for livestock. At 25-feet diameter and 14-feet deep it provides a wonderful black hole of water, particularly in a full moon.
Source: | Lundberg Design
“The wood is generally all reclaimed pieces from when we do renovations or additions,” says the artist. “I work for a high-end company [John G. Early Contractor and Builder], so we have a lot of uncommon things — antique flooring, antique beams. It would normally be trash, but it’s completely usable. The older and more weathered it is, for me, the more appealing. I prefer that to something that’s too clean and polished.”
Designed by Nordhavn-based Lendager Group, the Holiday Cabin consists of five connected structures, all of which are constructed from upcycled waste materials found from demolition sites and local factories.
Source: Upcycled materials make up this beautiful cabin retreat in Denmark
Many Viequenses build their own homes, but this practice is hindered by the limited supply and high expense of building materials, which are shipped from the main island. The “Unearthing Resources” concept would help to make Vieques more self-sufficient by finding new uses for materials from the island’s growing landfill. The proposal would establish a warehouse for different categories of recycled materials, and provide educational resources for building techniques, including classes. An instructional booklet for materials reuse would help to evolve the culture of self-sufficiency.
Source: 13 Proposals to Boost Resilience in Vieques, Puerto Rico
Rotor, Plateforme Réemploi, 2017. Source: Rotor.
Reusing architectural elements is a practice that is as long as the history of mankind. At one point, midcentury, this practice started to disappear. Industrial progress, capitalism, evolving demographics, and culture led to a different paradigm of practice. We’ve never seen our approach as one of invention. Our practice is more today about rediscovering existing practices. We see ourselves trying to connect the past to potential futures.
The Tilia version is made of dark linden wood, and the Salvage version is made of an airy and lightly recycled spruce wood. In both cases, the headset uses a dual 3.5mm jack layout – one per side.
Source: Erzetich Thalia, a fully hand-crafted headset made from recycled wood – Inceptive Mind
Reclaimed timber—the entryway alone used more than 2,000 pieces of reclaimed timber. Art installations made from 85 percent repurposed construction waste, recycled and diverted from landfills.
Minimising waste is high on the agenda here, and goes beyond the menu; recycled steel and plastic bar chairs are by Snøhetta, while the overall design is the work of Box 9 Design, and features poured concrete floors, custom fitted ply wood booths with sage green upholstery, an open kitchen and long tables made from reclaimed wood for group dining.
Source: Ozone — London, UK
Located in a rural area in Quebec, the old barn was in near ruins until the Montreal-based firm was hired to convert it into a secondary family home. Thankfully, instead of bulldozing the beautiful old building to the ground, the studio managed to salvage nearly every single material to reuse in the new design.
Source: Decrepit barn in Quebec was converted into stunning modern design by salvaging old materials
30 Best Upcycle Car Part Ideas
The house was their living quarters, initial work space, and ongoing project—it had been added onto over the years, and the previous owner, a high school shop teacher, “trash picked historic doors and windows considered garbage,” says Margaux. “He used his finds to restore the rooms closer to their former, albeit frankensteined, self.”
Source: A Vintage-Style Kitchen Remodel by Peg and Awl Marries Old and New
Because of the Upfront Carbon emissions from building, groups like the World Green Building Council have suggested that we have to “question the need to use materials at all, considering alternative strategies for delivering the desired function, such as increasing utilisation of existing assets through renovation or reuse.” They also noted that we have to “prioritize materials which are low or zero carbon, responsibly sourced, and which have low lifecycle impact in other areas.”
The Great Hive Mind is a striking installation made from reclaimed scaffolding poles. It contains an observation hive which is home to a colony of around 25,000 bees expected to rise to more than 50,000 by next summer.
Source: Eden gives bees a chance with new observation hive –
The rich heritage of denim spans centuries. Convinced that we were able to do something new, we drew inspiration from the techniques and processes involved in modern composite engineering and by infusing layers of denim fabric with a carefully selected resin, we have created Solid Denim.
Charlie Kern, co-owner of Chrome Yellow, converts old school buses into homes on wheels on Sept. 3 in Arvada. (RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post)
“Honestly, I think part of it is that good-looking people on social media are doing it,” Kern said. “Plus, housing costs are high, especially in Denver and other major cities.”
Source: Forget van life. Coloradans are living in school buses (a.k.a. skoolies)
Connolly, who works as a contractor, did all the home designs himself, and after a renovation lasting a year and a half in which he got almost all of the building materials necessary from reclaimed and salvaged sources, the West End bungalow now functions as a guesthouse, home office and extra living space, plus it gives Ross’ and Connolly’s four dogs (and often a foster dog or two) a double backyard in which to run and play.
Source: Atlanta homes: West End industrial bungalow made of salvaged materials
The main building on the Mountain Thunder Monument site
Like everything in the complex, the main building — whose lofted archway is the most visible feature from the adjacent highway — is adorned with fragments of architectural salvage and repurposed refuse, and guarded by several statuary works. Some of these are modeled entirely from scratch, while others incorporate found materials that create a commentary on the ways in which American Indians have been displaced within colonial culture.
Source: An Uncanny Mountain Monument Is the Focus of an Outsider Artist for Half a Century
Timber salvaged after upgrades at Geraldton Fishing Boat Harbour was turned into a striking board room table by a Geraldton furniture designer.Picture: Geraldton Port Authority
Timbers and piles discarded during upgrades to part of Geraldton Fishing Boat Harbour last year have been given a new lease on life and turned into a piece of furniture which will serve as a reminder of Geraldton’s maritime history.
Inspired by the unique nests made by the baya weaver bird, Nest is made from reclaimed NYC water tower wood fashioned into an organic form; the woven landscape has a climbable exterior, circular hammock area and permeable interior space, all designed to foster free play and discovery.
Source: Brooklyn Children’s Museum installs a rooftop playscape made from reclaimed water tower wood | 6sqft
Rhode Island residents Mary Gervais, right, and Cindy Bogart recently launched a website to help people connect to past practices and materials. (Maaike Bernstrom)
It’s designed to help visitors repurpose items and materials, from antique plumbing to reclaimed wood. It’s about building new from old. It’s about buying local.
The cupolas on top of the large barn were restored with wood that came from an old barn that was donated for the project.
All of the wood was sourced from Danish manufacture Dinesen, which would otherwise have discharged and burned part of the material, while windows were sourced from old buildings that had been renovated.
Recycled concrete, repurposed double-glazing and discarded flooring boards were all used in the construction of Upcycle Studios, a Copenhagen housing development designed by Lendager Group.
Source: Lendager Group uses recycled materials to build Copenhagen townhouses
SAWTOOTH BENCH BY: DURODECO $2,050 THE SAWTOOTH BENCH IS MADE FROM RECLAIMED AMERICAN OAK BARN BOARDS FROM VIRGINIA. THE GEOMETRY OF THE PIECE, ITS NAMESAKE “SAWTOOTH” PATTERN, DRAWS ATTENTION TO THE DISTINCTIVE END GRAIN OF THE WOOD. GLASS LEGS SLOT INTO THE BUTCHER-BLOCK STYLE SEAT TO CREATE A CONNECTION BETWEEN NEW AND OLD.
Source: Sawtooth Bench – In The Pursuit
9 Factory St. is due for demolition in mid-June. Photo by Terry Smith.
“We’re focusing on iconic aspects of the Factory Street building, and repurposing materials where it makes sense to capture that building’s character as part of the new construction,” Ken Johnson, D.O., executive dean of the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, said in the release. “We have found some beautiful and creative ways to honor 9 Factory St. in the new facility’s café,” added Johnson, who also serves as OU’s chief medical affairs officer.
Source: New medical school cafe to honor Factory St. building | Campus News | athensnews.com
“We have all this wood,” he said. “What else are we going to do with it?”
Source: “Sawstainability” In Action At Wake Forest – Old Gold & Black
“I’m more interested in diving a bit deeper, understanding the real history behind these abandoned spaces, and understanding how a ruin can be preserved and transformed into something altogether new. And I’m interested in the people behind these efforts, which are never easy—going well beyond the developers and architects that tend to get most of the credit.”
Source: Interview: Dan Barasch on Ruin and Redemption in Architecture – COOL HUNTING
Zulkarnain Saidin poses with pipes that he made in his home in Chemor, Perak April 1, 2019. — Pictures by Farhan Najib
Zulkarnain started making pipes about four years ago and he has made about 500 pipes, with half of them from the wood which are considered as waste.
Source: This pipe maker is giving wood a new lease of life by turning them into pipes | Life | Malay Mail
The Ottawa Antique & Vintage Market was held at Carleton University Saturday April 6, 2019. Brian Killeen’s Vint-Age Steampunk Industrial Lamps. ASHLEY FRASER / POSTMEDIA
“Riding down the back roads saving the past,” Killeen said with a twinkle in his eye. “I find all kinds of things.” Killeen’s Vint-Age Lamp lighting has now been shipped to customers across the United States and Europe and an imposing creation made a Royal Electric Company of Montreal gauge sits in the Parliament Hill office of his local MP.
Source: Firefighter’s steampunk lamps among antique and vintage show treasures | Ottawa Citizen
KOREY NOLAN
Korey Nolan built an award-winning surfboard made from Dunkin’ foam cups.
Nolan, who has been surfing for about a decade, said he was inspired to build the board for the California-based Creators & Innovators Upcycle Contest, an international competition that calls on contestants to repurpose waste by turning it into something that can be used in the ocean.
Source: This New Hampshire resident built a surfboard out of 700 foam Dunkin’ coffee cups – The Boston Globe
A family home was remodelled by the team at Retrouvius – the reclaimed flooring was specifically designed for hosting cocktail parties.
Some 26 years later, they now rule the roost of the London salvage scene, with both a warehouse trove of reclaimed products and a design studio that specialises in refurbishing top-end properties using rescued materials in a modern context.
Designer and architect Patricia Urquiola speaking at the 2019 Fortune Brainstorm Design conference in Singapore.
“If we use a material that has been used before to make something new, we have to add value to that new material.”
Source: For One Designer, the Materials Are the Message | Fortune
The sustainable installation is the winner of the 2019 City of Dreams competition. (Courtesy Somewhere Studio)
“Even though it’s a raw material that’s basically used for storage, it looks and behaves like processed cross-laminated timber,” he said. “When we began the project, it occurred to us that we had this big pile of wood staring at us that would otherwise be thrown away, so we decided we wanted to show off its quality and strength.”
Source: Somewhere Studio uses reclaimed CLT for 2019 City of Dreams pavilion – Archpaper.com
This bar counter at Hoppy Daze brewpub in Otay Mesa West was constructed from upcycled bowling alley lanes from the former Vista Entertainment Center, through a program to recycle construction materials. (Bruce DeMoss, Hoppy Daze)
“It was actually better than I envisioned,” he said. “When we were building it, we were like every day, this is going to be cool. It ended up above our expectations. We built it so that it was all re-purposed everything.”
Source: From bowling alley to brewpub, recycled lumber gets new life – The San Diego Union-Tribune
Image Credit: Paul Massey
Bricks were salvaged from the demolition of the building’s interior to create the wall of the side extension. Similarly, the wood ceiling joists are left exposed, giving an indication of how the structure fits together.
Source: IN THE RAW: IDEAS FOR EXPOSED BRICK WALLS | Livingetc
At the ReTuna shopping mall in Sweden everything for sale is recycled, thanks to its clever location.
Source: The shopping mall where everything is recycled – BBC News