2023 TCA Innovative Product Awards – Second Place
Willseal PF 100
Tremco Construiction Products Group
PF100 is an engineered joint sealing solution composed of an impregnated top and bottom foam layer laminated together whereby the three components meet IBC air leakage requirements (ASTM E283) and meet moisture infiltration requirements per ASTM E331 (de facto NA standard) without invasive anchoring or wet adhesives for sidewall adhesion.
This breakthrough technology enables rapid installation by various labor skill levels and is not beholden to correct wet depth thickness. While PF100 as a standard is supplied without a sealant facer (which is not required to meet the testing standards) customers can select to include an optional factory-applied sealant facer, which can be color-matched to suit customer requests (PF100 with a sealant face is referred to as PF200).
This technology also allows for cladding or building envelope components to be sealed, during the installation or from the inside of the building without having to access the exterior after completion thereby saving time and resources associated with labour and access for transitional methodologies.
Considering the enormous growth modular/panelized construction is experiencing and skilled labor in increasingly short supply, PF100 answers the industry’s call for quality, consistency, and rapid installation.
The industry in North America had long resigned itself to complicated wet application sealants and/or invasive anchoring because the readily available European (loose equivalents) could meet ASTM E283/E331. The critical element in why traditional European options were not suitable in the North American market was European codes/permeability requirements/etc. typically have higher breathability requirements, whereas North American standards do not allow for/endorse the same level of breathability- and when European options were repeatedly tested over the years to North American requirements they would fail. By combining the European mastery of precompressed foam technology with the capabilities of an integral sealant barrier under constant expansive pressure, the path to success lay in finding the balance between how much foam with a flexible integral sealant barrier would pass North American testing *while* being reasonable for installers to use. PF100 went through numerous iterations (in depth, compression amount, integral sealant barrier thickness, etc.), but with the support of the Tremco Testing Wall in Beechwood, OH and later through third parties the right mix was found, proven, and launched. The groundbreaking and novel developments core to this innovation have already secured a Letter of Allowance from the USPTO (Application Number: 17/682,415).
2023 SWA Trillium Award Winner
The Ontario Court of Justice
Read the Article: Winner: New Construction Project – Ontario Court of Justice
The Ontario Court of Justice is the largest courthouse in Ontario. Situated in Toronto’s downtown core, the new state-of-the-art facility amalgamates several existing facilities to become a key element of the downtown civic precinct. The fully accessible state-of-the-art courthouse will bring six Ontario Court of Justice criminal courts under one roof.
NORR Architects and Engineers in partnership with Renzo Piano Building Workshop has produced a strong architectural vision for the site by maximizing exterior public space, improving the streetscape and strengthening the links and relationship between the courthouse and the city’s downtown core.
Because of the complexity of the project, NORR Architects and Engineers needed, not only a quality below grade waterproofing product, but also support throughout the design phase as well as skilled installers. Due to the below grade spaces housing critical occupied space for judges’ quarters, judges’ parking, holding cells, mechanical and electrical rooms, NORR specified a below grade waterproofing product that would maintain its properties for long-term performance.
CoreFlex 60 was selected for its many outstanding physical characteristics including durability, dual membrane properties of a 60 mils welded membrane and an active layer and a meaningful warranty which in essence assured the Owner of a leak-free substructure. The reliability of the CoreFlex 60 was well understood by the consultant team based on past projects. The strong level of product and installation support by the manufacturer permitted the design team to collaboratively solve difficult detail conditions for the application and the extensive experience using the product locally promised that a high caliber of workmanship in the application was possible.
The collaborative efforts of DRE/CETCO, Bothwell-Accurate, and NORR Architects played a pivotal role in the design and waterproofing of the Ontario Court of Justice, resulting in a groundbreaking judicial complex that exemplifies innovation and functionality.
Allied Professional: NORR Architects and Engineers
Contractor: Bothwell-Accurate
Manufacturer: CETCO/DRE Industries
2023 TTMAC Hard Surface Award – Terrazzo
New Toronto Courthouse
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.
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.
Architect: Renzo Piano Building Workshop / NORR Architects
General Contractor: EllisDon Design Build Inc.
Contractor: Franklin Terrazzo Company Inc.
Material Supplier: Domus Terrazzo Supply
2023 NTMA Honor Award Winner
Senate of Canada
The Senate of Canada is located at Center Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
The existing Centre Block is undergoing a 10-year renovation project which is resulted in the relocation of The Senate of Canada to a temporary new location which was built in 1909 and was originally the Ottawa Union Train Station.
Public Works Canada along with Diamond Schmitt Architects and KWC Architects in joint venture took on the challenge to design the 8,000 square feet of corridors and lobby floors of the New Senate Building. In this design it was noted that the existing marble had to be incorporated as it was deemed Heritage Marble.
The existing Missisquoi Grey Marble floors, baseboards, wainscoting, and stairs were salvaged and cut into 2 inch wide by 1 ½ inch thick pieces by random lengths ranging from 10 inches to 30 inches.
Due to the irregular and sloped floor of the old railway station a conventional sand and cement underbed was installed.
The underbed was left to cure for 5 days. A Moisture Vapor Treatment was installed followed by epoxy primer. Two coats of full coverage fiber reinforced crack isolation membrane were applied. 1/16-inch zinc divider strips were laid along with expansion joints.
The next step was the installation of the Heritage marble bars. The random lengths of Heritage Marble bars were chopped in length with a mosaic chopper creating broken and uneven edges giving them an old-world appearance.
The heritage marble bars were installed at random within the 4 feet by 9-foot panels using an epoxy mastic. Once the heritage marble bars were successfully installed an epoxy terrazzo mixture consisting of Aggregate sized at #0, #1 and #2 was poured to complete the installation. The entire floor was then ground to an 800-grit finish and sealed.
Architect: Diamond Schmitt Architects and KWC Architects in Joint Venture
General Contractor: PCL Construction
Terrazzo Contractor: Franklin Terrazzo Company
Supplier: Domus Terrazzo / T and M Supply
2022 SWA Trillium Award Winner
Massey Hall
Read the Article: Revitalizing Toronto’s Massey Hall: A famed venue retakes the spotlight
Since opening its doors in 1894, Toronto’s Massey Hall has become one of Canada’s most iconic performance spaces and a host to the world’s greatest talent. Over a century later, in July 2018, The Massey Hall revitalization project was undertaken to modernize the celebrated entertainment venue for the 21st century. The project represented the most significant renovation in the Hall’s 127-year history.
Completed in November 2021, the multi year revitalization includes re-envisioned architecture and interiors by KPMB Architects, which worked alongside heritage architects GBCA to create a design scheme that honours the building’s legacy while providing a state-of-the-art performance venue for the future with enhanced acoustics and seating. The project vision included three primary elements: a major addition, new suspended walkways along the east and west sides of the venue, and an extensive renovation and restoration of the heritage architecture.
Accommodating KPMB and GBCA’s new vision in the middle of downtown Toronto meant navigating a tight, urban site. This proved challenging as the developer’s condominium project required a street-level right of way, leaving limited space for Massey Hall’s loading and stage dock areas at grade. With critically needed lobby space occupying the first two levels of the addition above grade, the only option for accommodating stage support spaces was below grade. The solution: create two waterproofed basement levels filling the full site footprint with the lower basement dedicated primarily to services and the level above to dressing rooms and a green room that align with the expectations of major performers.
Massey Hall is a Canadian heritage site. Due to the historical nature of the building a waterproofing membrane with long-term performance characteristics was crucial. Since the basement is a critical occupied space, the product selected had to have a meaningful long-term warranty. Anecdotal evidence suggested that a branch of the fabled Taddle Creek aquifer was present on or around the site and this demanded a robust and reliable waterproofing approach and waterproofing product. The design team selected CETCO’s Ultraseal for this application as the product’s reliability in a blindside application condition was well understood by the consultant team based on past projects. The strong product and installation support by the manufacturer permitted the design team to collaboratively solve difficult detail conditions for the application, and the extensive experience using the product among local waterproofing trades promised a high caliber of workmanship in the application was possible. In the end the collaboration of the project team of KPMB, DRE/CETCO and Bothwell-Accurate delivered the successful completion of the project.
Allied Professional: KPMB Architects
Contractor: Bothwell-Accurate.
Manufacturer: CETCO/DRE Industries
2022 TTMAC Hardsurface Awards: Terrazzo
The Drake Hotel – Modern Wing
The Drake Hotel is a Toronto hotel destination located in the Queen West neighbourhood and is well known for its celebration of community, culture, and contemporary art. The Drake Hotel expanded with the addition of the “Modern Wing”. The completed project has achieved the Toronto Green Standard Tier 2 requirements for sustainable design.
The five-story expansion allows for 32 new hotel rooms as well as a rooftop suite & terrace. The new “Modern Wing” is a contemporary design that contrasts the “Classic Wing” that once housed the entire hotel. A new ground floor in the main lobby is where Franklin Terrazzo Company Inc. created a seamless transition from classic to modern through their terrazzo installation.
Franklin Terrazzo Company Inc. created 6 colours to match the pastel shades of the original portland cement terrazzo of the vintage building. The new lobby features jewel tone terrazzo floors with a modern design full of dynamic energy and movement. The 9mm epoxy terrazzo floor spans 2,000 square feet over a moisture mitigation membrane and crack isolation membrane. The patterns were created with 1/8” zinc strips to define the crisp edges of the design.
Architect: Diamond Schmitt Architects
Designer: Design Agency, +tongtong and The Drake’s in-house team
Owner: Drake Hotel Properties
General Contractor: Skygrid Construction Inc.
Trade Contractor: Franklin Terrazzo Company
Supplier: Domus Terrazzo Supply Co.
2021 SWA Trillium Award Winner
Union Station
Read the Article: Union Station Groundbreaking Project Wins SWA's Trillium Award
Union Station is the busiest transit hub in Canada. In 2006, the City of Toronto required a revitalization plan to: expand and enhance the multi-modal hub to accommodate the expected growth from 70 million passengers a year to a projected 90 million passengers by 2036; restore and renovate the National Historic Site, the most important Beaux-Arts railway station in Canada and; create a destination, commercial retail hub.
NORR was selected to lead the project and developed the most technically innovative architecture and engineering solution ever to be implemented at this scale in Canada. The expansion of Union Station involved their “dig down” method that excavated an additional space, 13 feet below the station basement—all completed while maintaining full station services. The “dig down” solution provides 110,000 sf of new passenger concourse space with the insertion of 2 new floors in the dig down area.
In the end, this successful collaboration between all partners ensured excellence in the finished work. It was truly a partnership between NORR, CETCO Manufacturer supported by DRE Industries, an experienced local business partner, and Duron, an industry leader in waterproofing that provided a quality installation.
Allied Professional: NORR Architects & Engineers Limited
Contractor: Duron Ontario Ltd.
Manufacturer: CETCO/DRE Industries
2021 SWA Trillium Award Finalist
Market Centre Parkade
This site is a concrete structure that consists of three parking levels with a pedestrian level walkway and bridge connecting to downtown Brantford’s main street. Over the years, the structure had developed concrete delamination and the service life of the existing membrane was coming to an end. It was determined that a wholesale garage restoration program was required to bring this structure up to current standards.
The project involved many different aspects of work. First and foremost, there was significant concrete restoration required due to leaking cracks and debonded waterproofing membrane. The scope of work also involved wholesale removal of the existing traffic topping and the installation of a new thin system urethane traffic topping. Fibre reinforced polymer and structural reinforcement (FRP) of the existing columns and beams was necessary, along with the removal and replacement of expansion joints.
Moon-Matz Ltd., the lead project consultant, had spent years putting together the plan to successfully rehabilitate the structure. The garage restoration general contractor, Macdero Construction (Ontario) Ltd., won the public tender bid submission and worked with Neogard in selecting the Auto- Gard FC Urethane traffic topping and RTS system.
The end result was a project that the City of Brantford and our team with Moon- Matz and Macdero are proud to have delivered to the City of Brantford.
Allied Professional/Consultant: Moon-Matz Ltd.
Contractor: Macdero Construction (Ontario) Ltd.
Manufacturer: Neogard/DRE Industries Inc.