STEVEN EVANS PHOTOGRAPHY — Junction Craft Brewing is now housed in a renovated industrial building in the Stockyards district of Toronto’s west end. The company’s 1,358-square-metre facility at 150 Symes Road contains a brewery, taproom, retail space and office space. The brewery project recently won an adaptive reuse award.
“Their work retained the stunning art deco design and industrial character of the site, while repurposing it for a technically demanding manufacturing system,” said the organization.
Source: Symes Road Destructor transformed into a brewing ‘jewel’ – constructconnect.com
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
Fugitive Glue has made a variety of items from light fixtures, to stools, to an art installation in 2012. (Samson Wong)
“[It’s] where we isolate a waste stream, collect batches of that base material, come up with a design and create products,” says Jano Badovinac, 39, the mastermind behind the six-year-old company. In this case, “We’d collect propane tanks from decommissioning stations, clean them, cut them down, weld them into something.”
Source: This Toronto design studio uses upcycling to turn trash into treasure – The Globe and Mail
Furniture Bank Staff photo/DAN PEARCE
Tanya Rausch works on her project at the Funiture Bank Thursday. Five Aboriginal youth from Miziwebiik social agency are apprenticing in carpentry and upsholstery in the charity’s new funiture workshop.
Since the workshop opened in April, participants repaired, refinished or repurposed 1,000 pieces of furniture soon to furnish the home of a person or family in need.
via Furniture Bank breaks barriers to employment by training Aboriginal youth in carpentry, finishing and upholstery.
MATERIALS: Piano keys reclaimed from early 20th Century piano. Bulbs: 3 x 1 ft incandescent display bulbs.
Stroudfoot’s full-service workshop and design studio is located in Liberty Village in downtown Toronto. Clients are invited to tour its studio to view Stroudfoot’s inventory of reclaimed raw materials, an inventory replenished through regular sourcing around Ontario and the NE United States. From antique woods to one-off vintage pieces, the workshop and design studio is at the heart of Stroudfoot.
via Reclaimed Piano Chandelier – Gallery: Lighting and Wall Treatments 1 – Stroudfoot Design…Sleek Decay…Furnishings & Lighting…Custom, Turn-Key…Design-Build.
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.
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’.
Celebrating 25 years, both The Toronto Fall Home Show & Habitat for Humanity are inviting the participation of 25 Celebrity Experts and emerging style, décor and DIY bloggers in the 2nd annual Upcycle Challenge: Unhinged. They will source and repurpose a door from a Habitat for Humanity Toronto ReStore location. All items will be on display at the show.
via Fall Home Show.
John sez, “Honest Ed’s, the iconic Toronto discount store (‘There’s no place like this place. Anyplace’) is up for sale and will be closing. You may know it from its appearance in the Scott Pilgrim comic and film, but it’s been a landmark in Toronto for decades. Not a surprise, of course, since it doesn’t really fit in to today’s retail landscape (they have real hand painted signs for all their prices painted by real honest to god sign painters that they employ full time) but of course, that’s why it’s such an amazing place. It will likely be replaced by yet another condo with ground floor stores that could be in any city in the world and a little bit more of Toronto’s personality will be gone.”
via Toronto’s Honest Ed’s will go – Boing Boing.
For construction-related waste, Waterfront Toronto requires that all construction and demolition projects divert a minimum of 50% of waste, with a target of 75%, according to the sustainability report. This requirement is included in the Environmental Management Plan and is a credit achieved as part of its LEED for Neighbourhood Development Gold certification.
“With landfill space at a premium, waste management is a critical issue for the City of Toronto and Waterfront Toronto has addressed this in several ways,”
via Waterfront Toronto Diverts 86% of Construction Waste · Environmental Management & Energy News · Environmental Leader.
Reclamation Administration: News and Research on Building Material Waste Prevention