/ Green Coast in Action: The BDC Office Move

Green Coast Rubbish is at the top of its game when it comes to supporting commercial client moves by providing recycling, repurposing and waste removal services – the latest being a project for the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC). This particular project involved transforming a recently fully functional office that occupied 2 floors of the Bentall Centre back to a pre-lease state.

Rows of large, white, movable shelving units with hand cranks in an office or archive room; shelves are partially open, and sticky notes label the sections. A chair and desk are visible to the left. A modern office cubicle with a corner desk, two computer monitors, an office chair, yellow drawers, and a large window overlooking tall buildings in a cityscape. A break room with black tables and chairs stacked upside down on top, overlooking tall city buildings through large windows. The room has beige floors, a TV mounted on the wall, and fluorescent ceiling lights.

The ChallengeSeveral stacked blue chairs are crammed inside an elevator, making it difficult to enter or exit. The elevator doors are open, leading to a hallway with potted plants visible in the background.

The challenge for this office move project was going to be the massive volume of materials that were contained in the 21,000 square foot space that would need to be broken down, sorted, recycled, repurposed or removed. Another hurdle was a compressed time period to complete the contract including a limited daily 4 hour window (evenings from 6 pm to 10 pm) to move material from the two floors downstairs into Green Coast trucks. Also, with one of the floors being the 21st, it took extra time to go up and down the elevator.

Cove Repurpose provides Innovation

President and CEO of Green Coast Rubbish Eamonn Duigan took an innovative approach to repurposing some of the materials at the site, calling on skills he will be utilizing in his new venture, the soon to be launched Cove Repurpose.

“I utilized materials on-site, deconstructing desks, carts, and a few other things to make dollies to help expedite moving material out of the office space. I also deconstructed a few standup desks, and I am in the process of incorporating the hydraulic lifting components in the workshop we are building for Cove Repurpose in my home office in Deep Cove. It looks super cool!”

-Eamonn Duignan

The Cove Repurpose Lab, or workshop, is composed of mainly reclaimed materials from the various Green Coast Rubbish projects throughout the last year and a half, with the basic principles of style and function dictating its form.

A person stands indoors giving a thumbs-up next to an upside-down table being assembled, with power drills and table legs visible on the floor. An open door and wall panels are in the background. A person in a black Green Coast Norcal t-shirt and gloves stands in an elevator with metal shelves, some of which have fallen over onto a wooden dolly.

Recycled That

With an amazing effort by the Green Coast team members, two office floors containing items such as cubicles, boardroom tables, office chairs, desks, white boards, a safe, filing cabinets, shelves, kitchen stuff, plants and office supplies were cleared out and recycled. It was a huge job and the final totals of material removed and recycled are impressive including:

  • 705 cubic yards of material removed altogether
  • 27,340 kg of wood and garbage removed
  • 16,420 kg of metal recycled.

“I am really proud of the way my team came together to complete this project in the time we had. It was challenging with the four hour time limit each night and they rocked it!” Eamonn commented.

A cluttered, abandoned office space with ceiling tiles, broken furniture, and debris scattered on a carpeted floor, alongside large windows and partition walls in disarray. Office space with ceiling lights, empty shelves on the left, and large stacks of disassembled white panels or shelves on the right, with more stacks and boxes visible toward the back of the room.

“We are close to the completion of this space and once fully operational, Green Coast Rubbish will become full circle in our service offerings, and present to the world a reframing of all the things considered waste in our society,” explains Eamonn.

A large, mostly empty office space with green and gray carpet, beige walls, and many windows along one side. Several stacked chairs are visible near the far end of the room. An empty, carpeted office room with large windows on two sides, white ceiling tiles, and overhead fluorescent lighting. Outside the windows, green trees and tall buildings are visible.

Get in Touch

If you have a commercial, retail or residential recycling project, Green Coast Rubbish has an experienced team and will make sure all the materials we remove are dealt with in the most environmentally-friendly manner.

Contact us for more information at 604 230-4530 or pickup@greencoastrubbish.com and stay connected with our projects and activities by following us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.