The Ontario Provincial Offences courthouses originally consisted of two facilities, one located in Burlington and one in Milton. In September 2017, the City of Burlington initiated a project to consolidate the outdated courthouses into a new 34,000 sq. ft. facility. The new Provincial Offences Court is located centrally in Burlington and provides court services for non-criminal offences to the City of Burlington and the towns of Milton, Halton Hills and Oakville.
The new contemporary facility incorporates symbolic design elements to reflect both the region and the justice system. The northern half of the building is stone, emblematic of the strong and secure Niagara Escarpment. This section of the facility includes the courthouse’s police and security functions.
The southern half of the building is glass, symbolic of transparency – a virtue and goal for Ontario’s justice system. This glass section houses all staff office areas and justice retiring rooms. Employees working in this section of the courthouse benefit from an abundance of natural light provided by a large glass wall.
Finally, the secured courtrooms are centrally located on both floors of the facility, with a security screening checkpoint at each entrance.
The City of Burlington retained Colliers Project Leaders to provide furniture and move readiness services as part of the consolidation project. Our Furniture, Fixtures, and Equipment (FF&E) team led the furniture planning activities, advising the client on factors such as space planning, the selection and placement of office furniture, asset use, and color coordination. Our team also represented the client in the procurement of new furniture, including the development of specifications, showroom tours and the evaluation of RFP submissions.
Meeting the construction timeline for the project was critical, as court sessions are scheduled up to one year in advance. Our team met with courthouse staff to ensure that all existing contents and furniture intended for use in the new facility were correctly identified and captured in a comprehensive scope of work for the movers. To ensure a smooth transition, our project managers also provided detailed planning documentation and communicated move details with all courthouse staff.
The consolidation of the provincial courthouses was ultimately successful. Thanks to the detailed furniture planning schedule, which dovetailed seamlessly into the team’s move management scope, staff were able to transition operations to the new site on schedule in May 2019.
