The Ecology Action Centre

2705 Fern Lane, Halifax, NS
Design: Peter Henry Architects with EAC New Home Committee
Building constructed circa 1890.
EAC renovations 2005.

When the Ecology Action Centre (EAC) was searching for a new home in 2005 they chose adaptive reuse over building new. “We made a deliberate choice to work with an existing building and to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill” said Internal Director Maggy Burns.

A suitable home was found on Fern Lane in the north end of Halifax. First built in the late 1800s for residential use, it later housed O’Malley Electric, an electrical supply company. At the time of purchase the building contained offices and a warehouse on the main floor with rented rooms upstairs.
When the EAC took ownership, the building was completely gutted and redesigned to accommodate thirty staff, numerous offices and meeting rooms. In addition the building was retrofitted with the latest energy efficient technologies and simple low-tech solutions to reduce the organization’s ecological footprint.

The renovation aimed to creatively reuse as much material as possible on site or to recycle items, like valuable metal, whenever possible. Electric baseboard heaters, de-nailed wood, acoustic panels and other items were donated to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore or claimed by some of the 150 volunteers. In the end, the largest waste stream was generated through plaster removal - comprising 9.3 tonnes.

Detailed information on this renovation is available here.