The Webster was founded in Miami Beach in 2009 by Laure Herierd Dubreuil who was a recent immigrant from Paris, France. The new location at 121 Scollard St. Toronto is the first Canadian storefront opened by the luxury retailer. The Webster individually designs each storefront location. The building at 121 Scollard St. was built in 1884 by Leeds Sherppard and once housed two semi detached residences. The design team was comprised of Cumulus Architects Inc., and famous French interior Designer Stephane Parmentier, along with ERA Architects Inc. and General Contractor Structure Corp. Though the new location is uniquely designed many inspirations are drawn from the Miami deco of the first location. This includes the terrazzo in shades of black, beige, white, and of course pink.

Franklin Terrazzo Company Inc. installed a terrazzo floor with a daisy design in a circular space referred to as “The Wisper Room”. The daisy is comprised of 3 colours of 9mm epoxy terrazzo using size #1 and #2 aggregates. The solid 3” high epoxy terrazzo bench that follows the circular shape of the room was precast in 6 sections and delivered to the site for installation.

While some stairs are merely a means of transport from one level to the next, the pink terrazzo stair that connects the three floor levels of The Webster is a stunning show piece. Visitors stop and pose for pictures on the iconic illuminated staircase and can frequently been seen on social media platforms such as Instagram. The one-piece tread/riser units and landing slabs were made of pink epoxy resin with Mother of Pearl, Italian Yellow Verona, Canadian Buff, pink Venetian Aggregates, and Italian Marble Chips. The ¼” wide brass divider strips were hand formed and soldered at all seams completing the glamorous look.  

            Though the completed project is spectacular, Franklin Terrazzo Company Inc. overcame many challenges in its completion. The site itself falls within an elite shopping district, on a one-way street with no parking, noise restrictions, and classic narrow roads and architecture. This made everything including simply loading and unloading trucks and equipment much more difficult. A crane was required on location to deliver the machinery in and out the building. (See “additional photo 2” where you can see a floor grinder being hoisted into the building.) Franklin Terrazzo Company Inc. was able to surmount these challenges and complete the project within the narrow time frame allotted.