Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Originally opened in 1959, Oakridge Centre was one of Vancouver’s first major shopping malls and grew into a long-standing social hub for the surrounding neighbourhoods. In 2015, the City of Vancouver approved a 28-acre redevelopment plan to revitalise the precinct as a mixed-use community, combining residential, retail, parks and community amenities. Two of the headline residential towers in this redevelopment are the 20-storey North Building and the 30-storey South Building, both designed around sustainability, affordability and a strong sense of community.
To support the long-term operation of the mechanical services in these towers, Dewick & Associates was engaged to author the Mechanical O&M Manuals for the North Building, with the South Building to follow.
Our focus was on producing detailed, building-specific system descriptions covering the full mechanical installation, supported by maintenance log sheets, certificates and as-installed drawings.
By Alexandra Vuksa
Credit: This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license. You can view the original file called Oakridge Park aerial view, on wikimedia.
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Professional Mechanical Ltd is the mechanical services contractor responsible for the full mechanical installation across the Oakridge North and South towers. The mechanical scope is wide-ranging, covering fuel oil and heating hot water systems, chillers and associated pumps, chilled water and heating hot water air handling units and fan coil units, ventilation systems serving end-of-trip facilities, stair pressurisation, parkades, plant rooms, amenities and general areas, trench and perimeter heating, stormwater and detention, sanitary drainage with PDTS separators and grease interceptors, and the domestic hot and cold water systems.
With the towers forming part of a high-profile, sustainability-focused redevelopment in Vancouver, Professional Mechanical required a documentation partner who could deliver bespoke, building-specific manuals across both phases of work.
The project required O&M documentation to meet the requirements of the British Columbia Building Code and the City of Vancouver Building By-law, both of which place strong emphasis on high-rise fire safety, energy efficiency and verified commissioning. This included clear documentation of life safety systems such as smoke control and emergency ventilation, alongside compliance with increasingly strict energy performance standards driven by the BC Step Code.
At Oakridge, the manuals had to capture not only the headline plant such as chillers, AHUs and fan coil units, but also the supporting infrastructure: stair pressurisation, parkade and plant room ventilation, end-of-trip facility ventilation, trench and perimeter heating, and the drainage and water systems with their associated separators and interceptors.
The scale and complexity of the development also introduced challenges in coordinating mechanical data across multiple towers, shared plant and district energy systems. Ensuring consistency between design intent, installed systems and contractor information was essential to support both compliance and reliable long-term operation.
Dewick & Associates in-house Technical Writing team authored structured Mechanical O&M Manuals based on verified as-built information, working closely with Professional Mechanical to consolidate and validate technical data. The documentation provided clear system descriptions covering ventilation, heating, cooling and associated plant, supported by maintenance procedures aligned with manufacturer requirements and project-specific commissioning outcomes.
The manuals were written in a practical, operational format to support facilities teams managing complex high-rise systems. Regulatory requirements were embedded throughout to ensure alignment with Canadian compliance standards and high-rise operational expectations. The same approach is being carried through to the South Building.
The final O&M Manuals provided a clear and compliant documentation package that supported a smooth mechanical systems handover across the Oakridge Redevelopment. Facilities teams were provided with accurate, structured information to support safe operation and ongoing maintenance of complex building services, enabling them to optimise performance and minimise the risk of downtime across a large mixed-use development.
By aligning with Canadian building regulations and verified commissioning data, the documentation helped support occupancy readiness and reduced risk during the handover phase and ensured longevity into the future for residents and tenants. The result was a consistent and reliable technical record that supports long-term building performance across the development.
The content in this case study has been informed by project documentation and client communication provided to Dewick & Associates during and following the completion of the project. Where external sources have contributed to our understanding of relevant standards or industry practice, these are listed below.
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license. You can view the original file called Oakridge Park aerial view, on wikimedia.
Note: Some content in this case study draws on a combination of sources rather than direct quotation. Where this is the case, contributing sources are acknowledged above rather than cited inline.
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