Current Tall Mass Timber Projects: What’s Trending?
May 17, 2023
Ricky McLain
While 2022 was a year of significant growth for tall mass timber projects in design, 2023 has already seen the groundbreaking of several notable projects. As of April 1, there were 11 tall mass timber projects under construction or already built in the U.S. As discussed on our tall mass timber page, the prescriptive code path for these projects has been unlocked through three new construction types introduced in the 2021 International Building Code (IBC) and further refined in the 2024 IBC.
The three tall mass timber projects highlighted below all started construction in early 2023 and are all providing multi-family housing, but the similarities end there. Each is quite different geographically, programmatically, and from a scale perspective–emphasizing the point that tall mass timber projects can work across a spectrum of building typologies and sizes. Below is a summary of TimberView, Baker’s Place and 1510 Webster, along with a link to explore the project and its team on the WoodWorks Innovation Network (WIN). You can also view all of the tall mass timber projects on WIN using this filtered view.
TimberView | Portland, OR
74,385 sq. feet | 8 stories
- Type IV-C
- Ground floor food hall/restaurant incubator space
- 105 affordable housing units
- Glulam beam and column structure supporting CLT floor and roof panels
- Learn more about TimberView on WIN
Learn more about this project from the architect and engineer at our June webinar, Optimizing Mass Timber Designs for Application & Efficiency.
Baker’s Place | Madison, WI
304,809 sq. feet | 14 stories (12 stories of timber over a podium)
- Type IV-B
- Stepped tower design that rises from nine to 14 stories
- 206 dwelling units
- Glulam and CLT construction
- Designed using passive house principles
- Named after the original Gardner Baking Company Building, a portion of which was preserved and is adjoining the new development
- Learn more about Baker’s Place on WIN
1510 Webster | Oakland, CA
193,290 sq. feet | 18 stories
- 18 stories, 193,290 SF
- Type IV-A
- 222 residential rental units, 35 of which are affordable
- Point-supported veneer-based CLT panels supported on glulam columns
- Ground floor retail and commercial space, office area and amenities
- Learn more about 1510 Webster on WIN
Fresh off the press at Freres Engineered Wood, mass timber columns are being prepped for wrap and loading to the 1510 Webster job site in Oakland. Images courtesy of Freres
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