Industry · Civic & Cultural
Floors of civic record — courthouses, libraries, museums, transit.
Custom medallions, historic matching, and divider-strip designs that belong in a design portfolio. Civic work is where terrazzo earns its place in the architectural record.
What this floor has to survive
The conditions that make spec selection non-trivial.
Procurement and prevailing wage
Public projects bring Davis-Bacon, certified payroll, HUB participation, and small-business compliance. We carry the back-office for it — including bond capacity and the required insurance riders.
Long approval cycles
Civic projects move through commissions and public review. Sample approvals, mockup walls, and design committee presentations are part of the work, not interruptions to it.
Architectural significance
A courthouse rotunda is on the historic record. The floor will be photographed for the next 100 years. Pattern, aggregate, and divider craft have to hold up to that scrutiny.
Recommended systems
Three systems we install most often in civic work.
Civic and cultural projects almost always center on terrazzo — either matching a historic floor or creating one that will become historic.
Epoxy Terrazzo
New civic buildings — libraries, transit halls, performing-arts lobbies. Custom medallions and brand-aligned aggregate palettes.
System detailsCementitious Terrazzo
Historic courthouses, city halls, and university buildings being restored or added to. The original material, installed the original way.
System detailsTerrazzo Restoration
Grind, repair, and re-polish century-old terrazzo to its original condition. Standard work on DFW courthouses and historic schools.
System detailsSpec highlights
The numbers that show up in the submittal.
- Medallion complexity
- Up to 12-color, multi-radius
- Mockup wall lead
- 3–4 weeks pre-commission
- Historic match accuracy
- Within 5% of original blend
- Bond capacity
- $5M single / $15M aggregate
- Service life
- 70–100+ years
Schedule reality
How we work around the operation.
Civic schedules are public and political. We over-communicate to the construction manager, present full sample boards at every committee milestone, and document daily progress with photo-and-narrative reports the city can publish to stakeholders.
- Phased pours by zone
- Night-shift and weekend crews on request
- Vapor and dust containment for occupied spaces
- Daily progress reports to GC superintendent
FAQ
What this industry asks first.
Can you replicate the floor in our 1928 courthouse?
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Almost certainly yes. 1920s civic terrazzo is Portland-cement matrix with marble aggregate and brass dividers — we install the same system, same way, today. We document existing aggregate gradation, matrix tint, and divider gauge from a sample core, then match each on the new pour.
Do you carry Davis-Bacon and certified-payroll capability?
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Yes. We've delivered municipal, county, federal, and DART transit projects under prevailing wage, with weekly certified payroll, HUB participation reporting, and DBE/MWBE compliance documentation.
What does a custom medallion cost?
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Wide range — a simple 4' brass-outlined city seal in two colors runs roughly $8,000–$12,000 installed. A 12' multi-color rotunda compass with mixed brass and zinc dividers can land $40,000+. We quote firm pricing from approved artwork.
Can you do mockup walls or sample slabs for design review?
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Yes — we build 12" × 12" or 2' × 2' ground-and-polished mockups for design-committee review on a 3-week lead time. Multiple finish options on the same board for side-by-side comparison are standard.
Civic, cultural, or transit project on the docket?
Send the program and the procurement track. We'll return a sample board, medallion concept, and a compliant bid response inside two weeks.
Request a Bid