The Ontario Court of Justice – Toronto is now located in a fully accessible, state of the art courthouse. It features 63 judicial hearing rooms and will bring together six Ontario Court of Justice criminal court locations. These courts include specialty courts such as those for drug treatment, youth, and mental health. Construction began in the fall of 2018 and is now the largest courthouse in Ontario and the second largest in Canada.

The new Toronto Courthouse was designed by the internationally renowned Renzo Piano Building Workshop in partnership with Canadian-based architecture firm NORR Architects. The 17-story design can now boast being the most accessible courthouse in Ontario. Among elements such as video capabilities for remote attendance, barrier free boxes, and braille signage are the tactile indicators installed by Franklin Terrazzo Company Inc. Thousands of stainless-steel domes and bars are installed in the public spaces to assist in wayfinding. The more unique tactiles are those installed at the courtroom entrances. These tactiles were not only installed by Franklin Terrazzo Company but also fabricated at their precast shop in Chatham, Ontario and transported to site. The large precast panels were cast, and material was then ground and removed creating panels with integral tactile bars matching the exact specifications as their stainless-steel counterparts.

Franklin Terrazzo Company Inc. worked with EllisDon Design Build Inc. to install beautiful epoxy terrazzo in the public spaces of the courthouse. This includes the large lobbies of the ground and first floors, 12 elevator cabs, as well as public corridors and washrooms on all 17 floor levels. There are 46 public washrooms exhibiting beautiful epoxy terrazzo floors and base. The floors in these washrooms were prepared with slope to drain underbeds by Franklin Terrazzo Company Inc. resulting in an appealing but functional floor. Connecting the ground to the first floor is the feature staircase, featuring 5-foot-long self-supporting epoxy terrazzo treads with detailed nosing. The 140,000 square feet of crisp white floors are the result of extensive leveling and flattening of the concrete slab performed by Franklin Terrazzo Company Inc. to achieve a super flat finish. This substrate was also treated with full coverage crack isolation membrane prior to the installation of the epoxy terrazzo. The use of white epoxy resin with pure white marble chips are what give the floors their brilliant white appearance and are framed with 3” precast flat terrazzo base. Franklin Terrazzo Company Inc. is proud to have produced and installed the terrazzo at the New Toronto Courthouse, knowing that it will serve it’s community for many years to come.

Architect: Renzo Piano Building Workshop / NORR Architects
GC: EllisDon Design Build Inc.
Contractor: Franklin Terrazzo Company Inc.