A Piece of Cleveland | Making New Wood Products from Deconstructed Buildings

From APOC's website:

APOC designs and makes high quality products out of raw materials with a local history. Our efforts have rescued tons of doors, floors and lumber from houses destined for the landfill.

Our Mission is to provide you with a product that gives you pride. The handcrafted pieces that we create are rich with history, character and clean design.

APOC is part of a deconstruction movement in Cleveland. While we don't deconstruct buildings, we seek out ONLY reclaimed building materials for our creations. Without a market force for the materials, there is little impetus to deconstruct houses. The city of Cleveland will demolish at least 2,000 homes a year for the foreseeable future.

As a part of Growth Ring Enterprises, APOC fills a niche in the market for reclaimed building materials, namely those in abundance. By purchasing APOC creations, you are encouraging the "recycling" of buildings. With a Re-Birth Certificate in hand, the stories of these buildings will persevere.

Deconstruct

-verb (used with object)

to break down into constituent parts; dissect; dismantle.

APOC has been written up in several publications in Cleveland and out. Here is a list of links:

Cool Cleveland: A Piece of Cleveland... and Much More Than That
Quartet of Furniture-making Muskateers Deconstructs, Reclaims

Cleveland Magazine: The Best of Cleveland - Green Furnishings

Christian Science Monitor: From housing rubble, sprouts green furniture
A Piece of Cleveland goes beyond recycling to upcycle old-growth wood from demolished homes into new objects.

Waste News: Ohio firm 'upcycles' wood

Aaron Gogolin
Aaron is a native Clevelander who began his carpentry career as a rough framer of new construction houses. In this field he gained knowledge about how buildings are put together from the foundation to the roof while also getting an insider view of just how much waste is created in the construction trades.

Aaron's attention to detail drew him into fine carpentry and cabinetmaking. After working for several cabinet shops and remodelers, he began his own cabinet and furniture design and fabrication business, Made in Cleveland, in 2005.

Aaron feels that APOC has brought together his passions for beautiful wood, Cleveland history and environmental responsibility.

Chris Kious
Chris Kious is the material recovery partner to APOC. Working in community development within Cleveland for 5 years, Kious has seen many perfectly good buildings slated for demolition. Since 2006 Chris has worked at making deconstruction a successful industry in Cleveland. Chris's passion is to build sustainable/green businesses out of the recycling of buildings. Kious is excited by thoughts of green-collar low-tech jobs, making profits from "waste" and designing our lives to work with the environment. A proud member of Entrepreneurs for Sustainability, Chris engages in the community on many green initiatives such as urban farming, public greenspaces and green building.

P.J. Doran
P.J. Doran began making "things" early in life starting with backyard forts and gradually moving up to tree houses, usually constructed from garbage picks, leftovers and salvaged building materials. Getting his start in the housing construction industry, P.J. was able to learn the trade while refining his craftsmanship. Frustrated by the immense waste involved in new construction, P.J. began designing and building custom furniture from reclaimed materials. The influences for his designs and creations have come from several architects/furniture makers including Charles and Ray Eames and Alvar Aalto.

With much of their reclaimed materials dating back several decades, P.J.'s favorite part of working with APOC is saving and reusing materials over 100 years old. "I like the challenge of taking something that was discarded or bound for the landfill and giving it a new life." P.J. fits right in as a designer/ fabricator with APOC.