California building codes now permit 18-story mass timber towers to address housing shortages through prefabrication. This regulatory evolution allows for wider use of wood constructions to transform modern architecture. Using mass timber for prefabricated elements expedites multifamily construction while providing a scalable solution to the state's urgent demand for affordable housing.
Recent developments illustrate this momentum. The 1510 Webster Street project, a 19-story tower in Oakland, is the first Type IV-A mass timber high rise in the United States. It is also the first beamless mass plywood panel high rise in the world. In Santa Cruz, WRNS Studio is developing housing for 624 students using a hybrid structural system. This efficient design allowed construction to start just 11 months after the project’s approval.
To scale these solutions, WRNS Studio and FABRIC are launching California's first mass timber manufacturing facility to combat climate change, wildfires, and housing affordability simultaneously.
This program is co-presented by SPUR, Catalyze SV, and WoodWorks.
Speakers:
Michael Lane / State Policy Director, SPUR
Andrew Ball / President, oWOW!
Ben Mickus AIA LEED / Partner, WRNS Studio
Scott Domini Ehlert / CEO - Founder, FABRIC Mass Timber
oWOW! is an Oakland-based firm that developed the tallest mass timber building on the West Coast and one of the tallest wood buildings in the world at 1510 Webster in Oakland, California. The firm features a vertically integrated team that consolidates multiple disciplines under one roof, increasing opportunities for collaboration, innovation, and efficiency.
FABRIC Mass Timber, founded in Northern California, is pioneering a new model of regenerative industry, sourcing timber from local hazardous fuel reduction projects with support from CalFire and the US Forest Service to create a new and abundant local supply chain of timber for mass timber production.
WRNS Studio, recently recognized by Fast Company as one of the world’s Most Innovative Companies, is an architecture, interiors, and planning firm known for taking on complex projects and creating refined, human-centered, and contextually sensitive design, with sustainability deeply rooted in their ethos. With offices in San Francisco, Seattle, Honolulu, and New York, WRNS serves an international clientele.