MEDIA
Awards & Recognition
2026 Land Awards Winners: Celebrating Leaders and Projects in BC
04.06.2026 | The Real Estate Foundation of BC named Renewal Development and the shíshálh Nation winners of the Built Environment category at the 2026 Land Awards for the shíshálh Nation 10 Home Rescue Project, which rescued ten high-value homes from demolition in Port Moody and repurposed them into 17 below-market rental homes on the Sunshine Coast. [Read more]
Indigenous Partnerships Success Showcase (IPSS) Honours 2025 Shared Prosperity Award Recipients
14.11.2025 | The Indigenous Partnerships Success Showcase named Glyn Lewis, founder and CEO of Renewal Development, its 2025 Champion for Indigenous Reconciliation, an award “honouring a non-Indigenous ally with an unwavering commitment to reconciliation and inclusive economic participation.” [Read more]
Transforming Canada’s Heritage Sector – Highlights from the 2025 National Trust Governor’s Awards
24.10.2025 | The National Trust for Canada presented Renewal Development with a 2025 Governors’ Award in Kjipuktuk (Halifax) for its work rescuing and repurposing heritage buildings, including the 1912 Little Yellow Schoolhouse, relocated and transformed into an early childhood language immersion Learning Nest in partnership with the Squamish Nation. The Governors highlighted Renewal Development’s work “as an excellent example of how saving existing buildings, including heritage buildings, is worth the investment.” Glyn Lewis, CEO of Renewal Development, accepted the award. [Read more]
Renewal Named Finalist for 2025 Business Distinction Awards
08.07.2025 | Renewal has been selected as a finalist in the Environmental Impact category for the 2025 Business Distinction Awards, hosted by the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade. The awards recognize small and medium-sized businesses making an outsized impact in the region, with finalists chosen for their leadership in sustainability, growth, and innovation. Renewal’s circular approach to development was highlighted as a model for building climate-resilient communities in B.C. [Read more]
Canadian Company Recognized at Prestigious Architectural Exposition in Venice, Italy for Demonstrating Sustainability in Housing Construction
04.07.2025 | The shíshálh Nation celebrates Renewal Development’s selection by the Pavilion of France for the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, where the project that rescued ten high-value Port Moody homes from demolition and relocated them to the shíshálh Nation on the Sunshine Coast, with Wesgroup, was featured from May to November 2025. “This international recognition would not have been possible without the leadership of the shíshálh Nation and Wesgroup,” said Glyn Lewis, CEO of Renewal Development. [Read more]
Commitment to Circularity Winner: Renewal Development
18.04.2024 | Carbon Leadership Forum British Columbia gave Renewal Development the Commitment to Circularity award at the 2024 BC Embodied Carbon Awards for its Home Relocation & Repurposing Program, which connects high-quality homes slated for demolition with coastal First Nations and communities in need of affordable housing while preserving most of their embodied carbon. [Read more]
In the News
These Metro Vancouver houses have a new home in Haida Gwaii
03.10.2026 | Daily Hive covers the arrival in Old Massett of three homes rescued from demolition in Coquitlam, which Renewal Development and the Old Massett Village Council are turning into rental housing. “Some of these homes have been well maintained and well renovated, and they’re worth hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said Glyn Lewis. [Read more]
Three Metro Vancouver houses are taking a journey overseas to Haida Gwaii
30.09.2026 | Vancouver Is Awesome follows three Coquitlam homes rescued from demolition as they travel by barge from the Fraser River to Old Massett, where Renewal Development and the Old Massett Village Council are turning them into nine units of housing. “This is by far the furthest we’ve moved. It’s technically the furthest you can barge a building within BC,” said Glyn Lewis. [Read more]
Une deuxième vie à des maisons abandonnées : Glyn Lewis
25.09.2026 | Radio-Canada’s Panorama on ICI Première sits down with Glyn Lewis, founder and CEO of Renewal Development, for a 12-minute conversation about rescuing high-value homes from demolition and giving them a second life. [Listen here]
Coquitlam homes will find a new life in Haida Gwaii
23.09.2026 | Freshet News covers the send-off for three Coquitlam homes rescued from demolition and bound for Old Massett, where Renewal Development, Anthem Properties and the Old Massett Village Council are turning each into a below-market rental triplex for nine families. “Our goal is to provide safe, affordable, climate-resilient homes for our people while respecting and protecting the land we call home,” said Chief Councillor Donald “Duffy” Edgars. [Read more]
Coquitlam homes relocated to Haida Gwaii
23.09.2026 | CTV News covers three Coquitlam homes rescued from demolition and relocated to Haida Gwaii, where Renewal Development is converting each into a rental triplex with the Old Massett Village Council. [Watch here]
Coquitlam houses find a new home in Haida Gwaii
23.09.2026 | The Vancouver Sun covers Renewal Development’s latest project with the Old Massett Village Council: homes rescued from demolition on an Anthem Properties site in Coquitlam, modernized in Metro Vancouver and barged to Haida Gwaii, where each will become a triplex. “We modernized these three homes here in Coquitlam, where we have a good supply of products and trades and contractors,” said Glyn Lewis, founder and CEO of Renewal Development. [Read more]
Coquitlam homes being moved to Haida Gwaii
22.09.2026 | Global News covers three homes rescued from demolition in Coquitlam and headed to Haida Gwaii, where Renewal Development is converting each into a rental triplex with the Old Massett Village Council. [Watch here]
New study suggests demolition-bound homes could be an option for First Nations housing
22.09.2026 | Ha-Shilth-Sa covers the Light House study A Second Life for Canada’s Homes, which estimates roughly 18,000 homes slated for demolition in seven Canadian cities could be relocated over the next decade, and points to Renewal Development’s 32 homes rescued from demolition and delivered to four First Nations in BC. “Any relocated homes to First Nations have to be Nation-driven,” said Gil Yaron, managing director of Light House. [Read more]
Advocates promote an alternative to home demolition in Vancouver
18.09.2026 | The Globe and Mail covers a new Light House report showing Vancouver leads the country in home demolitions at 3,210 a year, with roughly 20% suitable for relocation, drawing on research from Renewal Development. “We can mine them from Metro Vancouver and put them on a barge and repurpose them all the way to occupancy,” said Glyn Lewis, founder and CEO of Renewal Development. [Read more]
Rancher rescued from demolition heading to Sunshine Coast
13.08.2026 | Coast Reporter covers a fully renovated Surrey rancher rescued from demolition by Renewal Development and barged to a couple in Sechelt. “Basically, we’re saving, rescuing, relocating and repurposing a high-quality home that’s coming from Surrey in Metro Vancouver and it’s going to a couple in Sechelt,” said Emily Lalonde, Renewal Development’s managing director. [Read more]
HAVAN Awards Gala celebrates achievements in residential construction, renovation and design
27.04.2026 | Renewal Development and Wesgroup Properties won Best Environmental Initiative at the 2026 HAVAN Awards. “Our partnerships with the shíshálh Nation, Squamish Nation, Wesgroup, Bosa Properties, Anthem Properties and many others demonstrate that development can be done differently,” said Glyn Lewis, founder and CEO of Renewal Development. [Read more]
Can Delta save good older homes from demolition?
05.04.2026 | Delta Optimist covers Delta Council's decision to explore how the city can support home relocation and repurposing initiatives, following a presentation by Renewal Development CEO Glyn Lewis. [Read more]
17 demolition-bound B.C. homes relocated to ease shíshálh housing crisis
12.02.2026 | BCBusiness covers the completion of the Ten Home Rescue Project, where ten homes rescued from demolition in Port Moody by Renewal Development, in partnership with Wesgroup, now provide 17 below-market rental homes for shíshálh Nation members on the Sunshine Coast. “This innovative housing solution, once replicated and scaled, can be part of the solution to our housing and climate crises,” said Glyn Lewis, CEO and founder of Renewal Development. [Read more]
Homes delivered to shíshálh Nation
02.09.2026 | Global News covers the shíshálh Nation's new homes on the Sunshine Coast. The homes were rescued from demolition in Port Moody and relocated to Sechelt, providing members with housing that would have otherwise been lost. [Watch here]
Home Relocation Project Brings 17 Affordable Rentals To Sunshine Coast's shíshálh Nation
02.09.2026 | Storeys covers Renewal Development and Wesgroup's Ten Home Rescue Project with the shíshálh Nation. Ten Port Moody homes were rescued from demolition and relocated to the Sunshine Coast, where they were modernized and expanded into 17 affordable rental homes for the community. [Read more]
First Nations members on Sunshine Coast move into homes relocated from Port Moody
02.09.2026 | CTV News covers the Renewal Development, Wesgroup, and shíshálh Nation partnership that transformed 10 homes from a Port Moody redevelopment site into 17 below-market rental units on the Sunshine Coast. Basement suites were added and renovation work was carried out by Nation members. [Read more]
Kirk LaPointe: When a house doesn't have to die
12.25.25 | Vancouver is Awesome features Renewal Development’s relocation of a 2,500-sq-ft home from Delta to ‘Na̱mg̱is First Nation. [Read more]
National Trust Announces 2025 Governors’ Award Recipients
12.18.25 | Renewal Development is honoured to be named a 2025 National Trust for Canada Governors’ Award recipient for our work rescuing and repurposing heritage buildings across British Columbia. [Read more]
B.C. show home barged to remote community off Vancouver Island
12.05.2025 | CTV News reports on the relocation of a Delta show home to the ‘Na̱mg̱is First Nation, where it will be repurposed as an oceanfront administrative building. The article highlights the challenges remote communities face in accessing affordable construction, and how Renewal Development, Bosa Properties, and the Nation are helping meet urgent infrastructure needs via sustainable home relocation. [Read more]
Delta, B.C. show home barged to Alert Bay First Nation for use as resource centre
12.03.2025 | CHEK News covers the relocation of a 2,580 sq. ft. Delta show home to the ‘Na̱mg̱is First Nation, where it will be repurposed as a community resource centre. Featuring perspectives from Renewal Development, the Nation, and Bosa Properties, the story highlights how home rescue and reuse can deliver affordable, low-carbon infrastructure and prevent good buildings from being lost to demolition. [Read more]
B.C.-based Renewal Development repurposes homes set for demolition
11.28.2025 | Glyn Lewis, CEO of Renewal Development, joins BNN Bloomberg to discuss how Canada's housing crisis inspires innovation. [Watch here]
Namgis Nation moves a house
11.20.2025 | A Canadian Contractor feature highlights how Renewal Development, the ’Namgis Nation, and Bosa Properties partnered to relocate a 2,580-sq-ft Delta show home to Alert Bay. There, it will be repurposed into a much-needed community resource centre. They emphasize this project as an example of a circular-economy approach in the building industry. [Read more]
La nation Namgis donne une deuxième vie une maison de Delta
11.13.2025 | Radio-Canada highlights Renewal Development’s latest relocation: a Delta show home given a second life in the ‘Namgis First Nation. [Listen here]
Delta show home moves up the coast for a new life and purpose
11.14.2025 | Delta Optimist highlights the 470-km relocation of a Delta show home, rescued by Renewal Development and repurposed as new community space for the ‘Namgis First Nation. [Read more]
Show home donated to Alert Bay-based First Nation for resource centre
11.13.2025 | Times Colonist covers the rescue and relocation of a Delta show home, headed to the ‘Na̱mg̱is First Nation to become a new resource centre thanks to Renewal Development and Bosa Properties. [Read more]
Delta show home to get new life in remote B.C. First Nation
11.13.2025 | CTV News highlights Renewal Development’s work relocating a Delta show home slated for demolition to the ‘Na̱mg̱is First Nation. There, it will be repurposed into office space for the lands and infrastructure team. [Read more]
House movers race to save older Metro Vancouver homes from the dump
03.11.2025 | The Vancouver Sun looks at the push to save good homes from demolition across Metro Vancouver, including Renewal Development’s ten homes relocated from Port Moody to the shíshálh Nation. “When we moved those homes from Port Moody to the Sunshine Coast, it worked out to about $150 per square foot,” said Glyn Lewis. [Read more]
Prefab and Modular Solutions for B.C.’s Housing Crisis
09.29.2025 | Renewal CEO Glyn Lewis joined CKNW’s Jas Johal Show to discuss the growing housing crisis in British Columbia and how innovative approaches like prefab, modular, and Renewal’s home relocation model can provide affordable, climate-friendly solutions. The conversation highlighted the urgent need for creative strategies that lower costs, reduce waste, and deliver quality housing more quickly across the province. [Listen Here]
Renewal’s Model Featured on CBC Radio’s Téléjournal
09.19.2025 | In a Téléjournal segment on the housing crisis and the federal Canada Builds initiative, Renewal CEO Glyn Lewis shared how Renewal’s home relocation and repurposing model offers a sustainable, cost-effective alternative. The interview highlighted how approaches like Renewal’s can complement large-scale housing efforts by providing efficient, climate-friendly solutions that address affordability and reduce construction waste. [Listen Here]
B.C. Non-Profit Pushes for Solution to Reduce Construction Costs, Waste
09.19.2025 | This CityNews feature highlights Renewal’s innovative approach to addressing B.C.’s housing affordability and construction waste challenges. The article, produced in collaboration with the Building Relocation and Deconstruction Association of British Columbia (BRDABC), spotlighted Renewal’s relocation of a 100-year-old Kitsilano schoolhouse to the Squamish Nation, where it was repurposed as a childhood learning centre. The project underscored the economic and environmental benefits of home relocation, offering affordable housing at roughly half the cost of new builds while diverting tonnes of waste from landfill. [Read More]
Reuse: Building Better Can Actually Mean Not Building At All
06.06.2025 | This recent Forbes article explores the shift toward reuse in the building industry, arguing that meaningful climate action will require us to rethink what we demolish—and what we save. Featuring Renewal Development alongside other leaders in circular construction, the story highlights how relocating and repurposing existing homes can reduce carbon emissions, preserve embodied energy, and provide affordable, sustainable housing solutions. It’s a compelling look at why the greenest building might be the one that already exists. [Read More]
Round-up: Canadian-led exhibitions at the 2025 Venice Biennale
13.05.2025 | Canadian Architect’s round-up of Canadian-led exhibitions at the 2025 Venice Biennale highlights Renewal Development’s selection for the French Pavilion’s exhibition on housing innovation, featuring its project with Wesgroup and the shíshálh Nation that relocated ten high-value Port Moody homes set for demolition to the Sunshine Coast. [Read more]
See Why Rescuing Homes Could Have a Booming Future
05.06.2025 | We were recently featured in The Tyee's latest piece which delves into our mission to transform the demolition-first mindset in urban development.
As Glyn Lewis, our Founder & CEO, emphasizes: "We find a mid-century home in good condition slated for demolition every week. We even find homes built in the last 5 to 10 years every few weeks! They’re out there. We know if we can find them, we can provide a better solution to bulldozing them and sending good material to the landfill.” [Watch + Read More]
Prefab Housing Project on shíshálh Nation Wins International Recognition
04.22.2025 | Renewal was recently recognized on the global stage at the 2025 Venice Biennale for our collaborative project with the shíshálh Nation and Wesgroup. The initiative saw 10 homes rescued from demolition in Port Moody and transported by barge to the Sunshine Coast, where they are being repurposed to help address an urgent housing shortage in the shíshálh Nation. The project was featured at the French Pavilion in Venice, one of the world’s most prestigious architecture exhibitions. [Read More]
Rescuing Architecture: Saving Homes From Demolition with Glyn Lewis, Founder at Renewal Development
04.08.2025 | In this enlightening conversation, Glyn Lewis, Founder and CEO of Renewal Development, reveals the surprising economics behind home relocation: each rescued home contains 100 tons of raw materials and 23 tons of embodied carbon that would otherwise go to waste. His company operates as a comprehensive service provider—handling demolition contracts for developers, coordinating the complex logistics of moving structures, and renovating them to become energy-efficient, affordable homes in non-urban communities. The result? Housing that costs 40–60% less than new construction.
As Glyn puts it, "Renewal is a campaign disguised as a company"—a vision for reshaping how we build communities and value our existing resources. [Listen]
Renewal CEO Talks Home Relocation on The Jas Johal Show
04.02.2025 | Renewal Founder & CEO Glyn Lewis joins The Jas Johal Show (CKNW, Global News) at the 19:30 mark to discuss how 30,000 single-family homes have been demolished in Metro Vancouver over the past decade - a number set to rise. He outlines Renewal’s innovative model of rescuing and relocating quality homes, reducing waste, preserving embodied carbon, and supporting affordable housing as a sustainable alternative to demolition. [Listen]
Unnecessary Home Demolitions in Vancouver Worsening Environmental Impact
03.17.2025 | New policy recommendations from Renewal Development and Light House aim to keep building materials out of landfills.
Relocating and deconstructing homes as outlined in a recent report from the organizations would divert at least 60,000 tonnes of demolition materials away from landfills each year over the next decade, reduce carbon emissions, create jobs and stimulate "circular" economies. [Read More]
Conversations That Matter: B.C.'s Demolition Crisis
03.07.2025 | With B.C.'s new mandate allowing fourplexes on single-family lots, the region faces a growing demolition crisis that demands sustainable alternatives.
Glyn Lewis was recently featured in the The Vancouver Sun and on the podcast Conversations that Matter, speaking with veteran journalist Stuart McNish about relocation alternatives to demolition that protect the environment and provide new housing for growing urban areas.
Pushing the Boat Out: Vancouver Repurposes Homes as an Alternative to Demolition
02.07.2025 | Monocle spotlights Renewal Development’s innovative approach to saving quality homes from demolition in Vancouver. The piece follows a group of heritage bungalows as they make their remarkable journey by barge to new communities, highlighting how Renewal’s relocation efforts preserve housing, reduce waste, and contribute to more sustainable urban development. [Read More]
Move it, don’t lose it: The business of repurposing homes
02.06.2025 | From environmental and economic perspectives, demolition is not a thrifty option. The average 1,500-square-foot home sent to the landfill contains 100 tons of raw materials and 23 tons of CO2 equivalent, not to mention they can still have substantial market value.
Renewal Development provides a one-stop shop removal service to developers or homeowners needing to clear homes from a property. Renewal relocates what they can, and they responsibly demolish and recycle what they can’t. [Read More]
Houses rescued from demolition are shíshálh Nation's 1st new homes in 10 years
02.03.2025 | What was an empty plot of land on the shíshálh Nation is starting to look more like a neighbourhood, with workers busy getting 10 houses ready for families to move in as soon as March.
The houses were rescued last year from Port Moody, B.C., just east of Vancouver, where they were set to be demolished to make way for a high-rise development, and barged to the community about 50 kilometres northwest of Vancouver.
More housing could mean more demolition waste for dump in Delta
01.23.2025 | Cities across Metro Vancouver are recognizing the urgent need to shift from financially and environmentally wasteful demolition practices as the construction sector contributes one-third of regional landfill waste annually. With wood waste comprising nearly half of disposed construction materials and demolitions expected to rise due to densification, innovative solutions and better markets for reusable materials are critical. [Read More]
Port Moody wants to see more houses moved instead of demolished
01.23.2025 | Port Moody is taking meaningful steps to encourage the reuse and relocation of homes impacted by new developments, introducing measures like streamlined deconstruction permits and lower value thresholds for relocated homes.
With an estimated 2,800 homes demolished annually in Metro Vancouver, we continue to emphasize the economic and environmental advantages of moving homes over demolition. [Read More]
Builder urges recycling of nearly 1,200 houses in Broadway Plan that could be redeveloped
11.12.2024 | Daily Hive covers Renewal Development’s call to rescue, relocate or deconstruct the nearly 1,200 houses that could be redeveloped under Vancouver’s Broadway Plan instead of sending them to the landfill. “Demolition should be the last option, not the first,” said Glyn Lewis, CEO of Renewal Development. [Read more]
Homes set for demolition moved to where they’re needed
09.18.2024 | CBC’s The National recently explored our story and that of the Vancouver demolition epidemic.
"A Vancouver-based company is saving homes from demolition and moving them across the province where they are badly needed. CBC’s Lyndsay Duncombe explains the process of recycling homes and the benefits that come with it."
Vancouver company repurposing homes as alternative to demolition
12.09.2024 | Global National features Renewal Development’s relocation of a North Vancouver home rescued from demolition to the Squamish Nation, where it is being repurposed as transitional housing. [Watch here]
Councillor Lisa Muri calls for relocation of older homes to reduce waste
09.09.2024 | Councillor Lisa Muri is urging the District of North Vancouver to adopt new policies that promote relocating or deconstructing older homes instead of demolishing them. Her proposal, which will be discussed at the council today, aims to reduce waste and greenhouse gas emissions while preserving homes that could be repurposed. [Read More]
Renewal Development Wants To Demolish The Demolition-First Paradigm
09.08.2024 | Storeys profiles Renewal Development and founder Glyn Lewis’s mission to rescue, relocate and repurpose high-value homes slated for demolition. “I think that anytime you try to change a paradigm, it’s not going to be easy,” said Lewis. [Read more]
The fight to keep perfectly good homes out of the landfill
21.07.2024 | CBC Radio’s What on Earth with Johanna Wagstaffe follows the shíshálh Nation homes rescued from demolition in Metro Vancouver and barged to the Sunshine Coast, featuring Glyn Lewis of Renewal Development on relocation as a lower-emission way to address the housing crisis. [Listen here]
These Coquitlam homes are only 8 years old, but won't be torn down as neighbourhood redevelops
18.06.2024 | Tri-City News, now part of Vancouver Is Awesome, covers Coquitlam homes built just eight years earlier, rescued from demolition by Renewal Development and bound for the Sts’ailes Nation. “We’re working through the demolition-first paradigm,” said Glyn Lewis. “But we need the political will to create stronger incentives to save homes.” [Read more]
Burnaby councillor wants 'more concrete' plan to save homes from demolition
06.14.2024 | More than a year after Burnaby council asked staff to investigate a plan to save homes slated for the wrecking ball, staff came back with an answer this week: they’re working on it.
City staff responded to an action plan presented by Glyn Lewis, the owner and CEO of Renewal Home Development, in March 2023 outlining seven policy measures to encourage developers to relocate high-value homes instead of tossing them into the landfill. [Read More]
Shíshálh Nation rescues, relocates 10 houses slated for demolition
27.03.2024 | CBC News covers the shíshálh Nation’s plan to rescue ten Port Moody homes slated for demolition and barge them to its Selma Park subdivision, where Renewal Development will modernize them. “We’re trying to look at ways that we are building good, strong homes and looking at how we can expedite the process,” said lhe hiwus (Chief) Yalxwmeult Lenora Joe. [Read more]
Kitsilano's landmark little yellow schoolhouse begins new life after move to Squamish Nation
02.06.2024 | After 110 years of serving the community in Kitsilano, a little yellow schoolhouse is entering a new life serving the Squamish Nation on the North Shore.
“The Yellow Schoolhouse is the home of our new Ta Tsiptspí7lhḵn (Language Nest), where our youngest ones will be learning our Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) language, culture and traditions,” said Sxwíxwtn-Wilson Williams, spokesperson and councillor of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish Nation). “We are thrilled to have this new facility and look forward to welcoming our youngest community members through its doors for years to come.” [Read More]
From our highlight reel…
The Little Yellow School House | Learning Nest
Discover the journey of the Little Yellow School House, a 1912 heritage building rescued from demolition and transformed into a Learning Nest for early childhood language immersion. In partnership with the Squamish Nation (Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw) and Nickel Bros, this project highlights reconciliation, sustainability, and preserving cultural heritage.
This video showcases the dramatic relocation and the building’s meaningful new purpose. It’s a powerful example of how sustainable development and collaboration can create lasting impact for communities and the environment.
Monocle | Floating buildings and maritime architecture
Can floating cities be the solution to rising sea levels? Can architecture prepare in advance for coastal changes? We explore a few ways that our cities are, or should be, interacting with water.
Featuring Glyn Lewis, Renewal Development’s Founder & CEO segment discussing how we have used the waterways around Vancouver to relocate, rather than demolish, houses that are cleared for development, as well as how to deliver them to communities in need. [Podcast]
Media Enquiries
We invite members of the media to join us in sharing our mission and sparking important conversations about sustainability in the development industry and the power of community building. Download our media kit to learn more about how we’re redefining housing solutions and creating lasting impact.