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Toronto -- When a roundtable discussion was organized to debate the question of whether restoration work could be considered new construction, the intention was to have a contractor on the panel who would espouse the view that it was.
Alas, not one could be found, meaning the outcome of the discussion at the Construct Canada conference last week was pretty much a foregone conclusion.
Although John Farrugia, the owner of Farrugia Associates Inc. Architects of Caledon, did suggest there were a number of similarities between restoration and new construction, the consensus was that the two were complete and utter opposites.
"I see no comparison at all between new construction and restoration work," said Keith Blades, a consultant in the conservation of historic buildings. "I think they are as unlike as chalk and cheese."
The main difference, according to Blades and most of the other panelists, was in the way the two projects are approached.
In the case of new...