Agricultural Adaptation Research Co-op

Chapter 2: Unbuilding, Rebuilding
2.1 Unbuilding
Salvaging Materials: Inventory and Possibilities
When coastal properties are abandoned, the buildings on them can either be
demolished, relocated, disassembled, or left to decay. Demolition and abandonment
risk contaminating the area around the building with harmful substances found in
the building materials or household items. Abandonment also represents a waste of
perfectly salvageable materials, especially in a place like Sainte Flavie, where cheap
land means that building and material values usually make up most of a propertyʼs
overall assessed value. Relocation can be costly or unfeasible given the type of
structure and its size since it will need to be carried on wide-load vehicles on shared
roads which may have an incompatible infrastructure. This leaves “unbuilding,” or
disassembly, as the optimal solution in most cases. Concrete foundations should be left
behind intact, as over time they will calcify and provide a carbon sink along the coast.
Currently, residents can take any recycle material from their properties to the
Ecocentre de la Mitis at Mont-Joli Airport. However, the eco-center lacks an adequate
structure for storing and processing mass quantities of wood to be reclaimed at
the scale proposed over the timeline of this project. Therefore, in the short term,
a facility should be provided to aid in the salvaging of wood from disassembled
homes, to ensure that high-quality members are properly stored, cut, and sorted to
retain their material integrity for later re-use in new structures. This will become
Phase 1 of the A.A.R.C. Building.
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