Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
The Wedge and The Skinny are two new residential towers that have reshaped the downtown Victoria skyline, delivering much-needed housing for the local area while bringing fresh life to the adjacent urban precinct.
The Wedge sits on the original McCall Brothers Funeral Home site and rises 15 storeys above the existing chapel, with 93 one to three-bedroom apartments and shared resident amenities including a lounge, workstations and private outdoor terraces.
The Skinny is a 37-unit mid-rise rental tower forming the second phase of a two-building project, with phase one completed in 2018. To support handover for both buildings, Dewick & Associates was engaged to author the Building Handover Manual for the project on behalf of the General Contractor.
We delivered a complete, well-organised handover package that detailed the building’s structure, fabric, and glazing through to the final finishes, fixtures, and fittings. This technical record was fully supported by a comprehensive collation of manufacturer literature, compliance certificates, and warranties sourced from across the wider supply chain.
By Alexandra Vuksa
Credit: The image has been generated by AI and depicts a sketch of the building only.
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Blackrete Builders is a British Columbia based General Contractor delivering residential and commercial projects across Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. For The Wedge and The Skinny, Blakcrete was responsible for the full construction package across two distinct towers on adjacent parcels, working with a substantial subcontractor base across structure, façade, finishes and services. With a 15-storey luxury condominium and a 37-unit rental tower being delivered alongside an existing chapel building,
Blackrete required a documentation partner who could collate, verify and compile a single Building Handover Manual covering everything that goes into the building fabric and finishes.
Compiling a Building Handover Manual for a multi-tower residential development of this scale requires a high level of strategic coordination alongside technical authoring. Projects such as The Wedge and The Skinny engage an extensive network of subcontractors and trades, each responsible for unique product literature, compliance certificates, warranties, and as-installed drawings.
In the absence of a structured collection process, the task of sourcing and verifying this data often risks extending project timelines and creating critical information gaps. Beyond simple collation, the project brief required a manual that offered genuine utility for residents, building managers, and future maintenance providers. To achieve this, the content was meticulously reviewed for operational relevance to ensure the final deliverable was both comprehensive and functional.
Dewick & Associates used nucleus, our online subcontractor information portal, to contact the trades directly and request the manufacturers’ literature, certificates, warranties and drawings that form part of the essential handover documentation. nucleus gave both Blackrete and the subcontractors full transparency over what had been requested and what had been received, removing the back-and-forth that typically slows handover collation. Once received, our in-house Technical Writing team reviewed and verified each item to ensure relevance before approving and compiling a complete Building Handover Manual covering the structure, fabric, glazing, finishes, fixtures and fittings.
The project resulted in a clear, well-evidenced Building Handover Manual that supports a smooth transition from construction to operation across both towers. Blakcrete Builders is able to close out the handover in a single, structured deliverable, and the building management team for The Wedge and The Skinny is now equipped with a definitive reference for the building fabric, finishes and supporting documentation. More importantly, the residents who now call the buildings home enjoy a development backed by a properly evidenced handover, ensuring the structure, materials and warranties supporting their homes are documented and accessible for years to come.
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.
The image has been generated by AI and depicts a sketch of the building only.
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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