Arcana’s Midseason Highlights: Fall 2025

Nov 11

photo of Arcana Materials and Arcana Restoration's trade show booth at the National Heritage Trust conference. Image shows brick samples in the foreground and informational signs in the background. — **We’ve had a busy few months!** Several heritage restoration projects are in progress at Arcana Restoration, and we’re working hard to spread the word about our growing inventory of reclaimed historic masonry materials through Arcana Materials.
We’re proud of this momentum in preservation and sustainability, and want to share some recent highlights: what we’ve learned, what’s been restored, and what’s new at our yard.

I. INDUSTRY HIGHLIGHT: National Trust Heritage Now! Conference

We had wonderful trip to Halifax and an inspiring experience participating in the National Trust for Canada ‘Heritage Now!’ Conference at the end of October. Arcana Materials Co. & Arcana Restoration Group Ltd were honoured to be amongst such good company of heritage professionals and to be able to share more about how special and important reclaimed materials are in our industry. We brought samples of our wide range of reclaimed heritage masonry materials to facilitate conversations around access to historic materials, sustainability within construction practices, and increasing project value in both restoration and new construction projects through the reuse of brick and stone.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

In addition to hundreds of introductions and excellent questions from visitors to our booth, we attended sessions that highlighted the current triumphs and challenges of heritage work throughout Canada.

Tour: Working Class History of Halifax, hosted by Emma Lang (Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia)
We learned about the impact of people, land, and power structures on the city’s history, through the lens of working class residents and the buildings where they worked and lived. As masons, we found it especially interesting to learn about the old stone yard that was perched halfway up the hill between the harbour and the Citadel!
Building Adaptation, Relocation, and Deconstruction: Towards a Heritage Conservation Continuum Strategy, presented by Susan Ross (Carleton University), Joe Nickerson (Sidewalk RED), Glyn Lewis (Renewal Development), Carly Connor (Green Salvaged Materials)
This topic significantly ties in with our mission at Arcana, and the speakers presented key examples of how deconstruction and relocation can become more feasible. We were especially inspired by Glyn Lewis & Renewal Development’s innovative approach to relocating and modernizing homes as an alternative to demolition in British Columbia.
Bridging Heritage and Sustainable Development: CAHP’s Codes Acceleration Fund Project, presented by Kelly Alvarez Doran (Ha/f Climate Design), Ria Al-Ameen (Giaimo), Carly Connor (Green Salvaged Materials), Adam Hatch (hcma), Rashmi Sirkar (Ha/f Climate Design)
In an investigation of sustainability within adaptive reuse projects, this presentation offered in-depth case study comparisons of the carbon implications of 3 scenarios: retrofit, retrofit with addition, and demolition and replacement with new construction. Our friends at Giaimo and Ha/f Climate Design are spearheading this important advocacy work that can help preserve heritage buildings and their valuable materials while also addressing the climate crisis.
Plenary Panel – Heritage Now: A Turning Point for Heritage Conservation? presented by Chris Wiebe (National Trust for Canada), Erica Avrami (Columbia University), Alex Bozikovic (The Globe and Mail), Claudine Déom (Université de Montréal), Heather George (Indigenous Heritage Circle), Keisha Cuffie (Black Legacy Collective)
This was an eye opening conversation about biases within heritage recognition systems, and how many of North America’s heritage programs are missing the mark on diversity, sustainability, and cooperation in response to the housing crisis. Reflecting on how our roles within the heritage sector impact our local communities and contemporary culture reminds us how much we have to learn and how the future of heritage preservation could be redefined.

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Special shout out to our friends — new and old — at Sage Restoration, SpruceLab Inc., Lepage Millwork, GBCA, ERA Architects, Giaimo, Heritage Grade, Heritage Restoration Inc, Clifford Restoration Limited, Alex Bozikovic, Willowbank School of Restoration Arts, City Of Hamilton, Parks Canada, RJC Engineers, Cintec Reinforcement Systems, Public Services and Procurement Canada, as well as countless individuals and so many other restoration partners, architects, planners, and conservationists. Let’s stay in touch!

II. PROJECT SPOTLIGHT: Recent Facade Restoration in Danforth Village

We’re thrilled to share the Arcana Restoration’s transformation of this Victorian-style bay and gable home built in 1908 and first occupied in 1909. Its first residents were the families of railway workers and WWI soldiers, this home being one of the first on its street in the growing Danforth Village neighbourhood.
Years later, the original brick facade was covered with then-trendy angelstone for several decades, until our crews uncovered the historic original design.

Arcana Restoration masons carefully removed the old cladding, evaluated and documented the brick design underneath, and brick by brick removed the deteriorated façade to install new waterproofing and rebuild to its former glory. We used a mix of reclaimed brick from the original wall combined with heritage matching brick.

Check out the Arcana Restoration Instagram for more behind-the-scenes of all the work that went into this project, and visit the new blog page to read about other completed projects.

III. PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT: Credit Valley Sandstone

At Arcana Materials, we strive to intercept valuable building materials before they end up in landfills, as is so often the case when historic properties are demolished to make way for new construction. Last winter, we had the opportunity to partner with Ouroboros Deconstruction to deconstruct a 1930s mansion overlooking the Humber River in west Toronto and salvage tons of now-rare Credit Valley Sandstone.

This material is an exceptional relic of 20th century high-end architecture in Ontario. It was excavated from the Credit River Valley, the same regional source and material used in major projects including the 1931-1933 Royal Ontario Museum expansion. It is hand-tooled coursed Ashlar in a variety of sizes (larger and in more colour-range than newly-quarried Ontario stone), has authentic patina, and can be cut to veneer thickness.

We have nearly 2500 sf of this sandstone in stock, cleaned & palleted, ready for use.

EMAIL US

A section of wall prior to deconstruction & salvage.

Check out some of our other recently-salvaged masonry materials:

VI. What’s next?

As the weather turns colder and we finish up the 2025 season, our teams at Arcana Materials and Arcana Restoration continue to prioritize the quality of our materials and masonry work, strive to do justice to the history of the buildings and bricks, and explore more ways to innovate within the world of salvaged materials and sustainability within construction practices.

Want to collaborate? Get in touch with us:

Get a free estimate for restoration services — now booking for 2026!
Book a Lunch&Learn: we would love to share our collection with your design teams.
Make an appointment to visit our yard, we’d love to show you around!