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.