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Oakville Porcelain Rooftop Patio

In 2024, Branthaven set out to create a welcoming rooftop oasis for residents at 3240 William Coltson Avenue in Oakville, Ontario. Perched high above a busy intersection near Trafalgar Road and Dundas Street East, the space needed to look as refined as a ground-level courtyard while standing up to wind, weather, and daily use. NAK Design Strategies envisioned a clean, contemporary porcelain tile terrace, and Orin Landscaping was entrusted with turning that vision into a long-lasting reality. To make it work on a rooftop—and to keep everything permeable and secure—ROMEX Hardscapes was brought into the conversation.

PRODUCT SELECTION

From the outset, the design team knew this would not be a typical patio build. The surface was porcelain tile, which cannot be dry laid and must be fully bonded to perform. At the same time, the rooftop needed a system that could resist wind lift and still allow water to drain through the surface instead of pooling. That combination of constraints led the project team to the ROMEX System Guarantee (RSG), built around three key products:

Together, these components offered a fully integrated, warrantied system designed specifically for long-term performance under demanding conditions.

TRASS BED played a particularly important role on this rooftop. It is approximately 30 percent lighter than concrete and is installed at only 1.5 | 40mm inches thick, which significantly reduces structural loading compared to traditional concrete beds. This made it an ideal choice for a rooftop setting where weight, drainage, and long-term stability all needed to work together.

PROJECT LOCATION
The project sits atop a Branthaven property in Oakville, Ontario, overlooking the growing community around Trafalgar Road and Dundas Street East. Rooftop environments in this region face freeze–thaw cycles, driving rain, and strong gusts funnelling between buildings. Unlike a ground-level patio, this 2,000 sq ft rooftop terrace needed to manage water effectively without overloading the structure, all while remaining stable and safe under changing weather and seasonal use.
 

PROJECT NEEDS
The design intent called for large-format porcelain tiles in a clean, modern layout—but that choice introduced a series of technical challenges. Porcelain cannot be dry laid, so the tiles had to be bonded to a stable, permeable base rather than set on sand. The system also needed to resist wind lift, ensuring tiles stayed firmly in place even during storms. At the same time, the client wanted a permeable surface so water could move through the joints instead of sitting on the tiles or running unchecked to drains. In short, the rooftop required a bonded, permeable hardscape assembly that could protect both the finished surface and the structure below.
PROJECT SOLUTION
To meet these demands, the project team committed to the ROMEX System Guarantee (RSG), using a complete ROMEX assembly from the bedding layer up. Orin Landscaping installed TRASS BED as a permeable, high-performance bedding layer engineered to support the porcelain tiles while allowing water to infiltrate. ADHESION ELUTRIANT was used as the bond coat, creating a strong, reliable connection between the porcelain tiles and the TRASS BED. Once the tiles were set and aligned, ECOFINE was applied as the permeable jointing mortar, locking the surface together, enhancing wind lift resistance, and allowing rainwater to pass through the joints.
 
Working closely with NAK Design Strategies and Branthaven, Orin Landscaping delivered a 2,000 sq ft rooftop patio that met the aesthetic vision and the technical requirements in equal measure. The finished terrace is a clean, contemporary rooftop gathering space—bonded, permeable, and built as a complete ROMEX system designed to perform for years to come.
Product
Application

Polished porcelain tile on a rooftop patio

Location

Oakville, Ontario, Canada

Year

2024

Designer
Contractor
Client
Categories

Commercial

QUESTIONS?

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ROMEX® NORTH AMERICA

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