FABRIC and WRNS Studio launch california's first large-scale mass timber factory in Redding

FABRIC Mass Timber and WRNS Studio have begun a multi-faceted effort to pioneer the availability and expand the use of mass timber in California and beyond. FABRIC’s mission is to use advanced, automated technologies to transform wildfire fuel into climate-positive building materials and create advanced manufacturing jobs for Northern California.

California’s First Large-Scale Mass Timber Factory Breaks Ground in Redding

They have enlisted WRNS Studio, an American architecture firm, to design a 200,000-sf mass timber factory in Redding, Calif.—California’s first large-scale mass timber production facility. FABRIC’s vertically integrated operations will bring design consulting, engineering, manufacturing, testing and demonstration together.

Building an Ecosystem for Sustainable Design and Construction

The facilities are just one part of FABRIC’s broader ecosystem thinking, to cultivate connections between the design, construction and forestry industries, education, research, policy-making, workforce training and community activism, with the goal of increasing awareness and adoption of mass timber across multiple industries.

“We have a full ecosystem ready to change the way we build. An experienced team. Design and engineering support from inspiration to installation. Advanced manufacturing and fabrication facilities that produce CLT and GLT to exacting specifications. Supply chain tracing to document sustainability and wildfire reduction efforts. Partnerships to train and develop a workforce that will frame new opportunities for our state,” said FABRIC Founder and CEO Scott Ehlert.

Local Timber and Sustainable Supply Chains in Northern California

The large impact that FABRIC hopes to have is only possible if their business operation is scalable and financially viable. FABRIC has thought through their supply chain, staffing, and potential markets and education, to find synergies. With support from CalFire and the US Forest Service, they are planning to source timber from local Hazardous Fuel Reduction projects–timber being removed for forest thinning operations–to create a new and abundant local supply chain of timber for mass timber production.

Redding Facility Design: A New Model for Human-Centered Manufacturing

With the Redding factory, FABRIC and WRNS Studio are striving to create a human-centered, desirable place to work and visit, with a globally recognized facility design that will be a new landmark for the City of Redding, attracting global talent and cultivating local talent.

The building design and materials offer a new paradigm for industrial architecture: a biophilic and adaptable system that showcases innovation through a mass timber kit-of-parts that can be adopted by multiple industries, to expand California’s circular, low-carbon mass timber economy. The mass timber products created inside the building are showcased in the structure and envelope enclosing it.

"Drawing on our mass timber expertise on recent projects for Microsoft and Princeton University, we are thrilled to help this game-changing organization create a vibrant flagship facility, serving the Redding community, and creating a new beacon of sustainability in California," said WRNS Studio Partner Ben Mickus.

Educating the Next Generation of Mass Timber Designers in California

Education also plays a huge role in FABRIC and WRNS’s strategy. The use of mass timber structural and cladding systems have the potential to dramatically transform architecture and design possibilities across California and nationwide, as the next generation of architecture students and advanced manufacturing trades become versed in mass timber design during their education. With this in mind, FABRIC and WRNS are creating a series of cross-curricular workshops, connecting the UC Berkeley and Cal Poly Architecture departments–some of the top design schools in the nation–and Shasta College, a local community college with a robust advanced manufacturing training program to support the surrounding forestry industry.

Together this partnership will explore how locally-sourced wood from hazardous fuel reduction projects can be used with FABRIC’s advanced manufacturing capabilities to create new design possibilities in mass timber. Providing this knowledge in architectural and vocational education will help produce creative and skilled professionals with the capacity to integrate mass timber as a critical element in the design of our more resilient future urban environments.

Addressing California’s Housing Crisis with Prefabricated Mass Timber

Addressing housing affordability and homelessness is part of the long-game for FABRIC. The ideas of executing more of the construction process in the factory, using pre-fabrication to reduce on-site labor, and increase construction speed are gaining traction, with several other companies already actively involved in this effort. Using mass timber for pre-fabricated housing elements allows even more automation and speed of construction.

It also has the potential to expedite multifamily housing construction for dense urban areas that need it, while expanding an advanced manufacturing economy in rural parts of California that need the jobs, uniting these disparate communities around this shared goal. With these lofty ideas in mind, FABRIC has engaged the local, state and federal government to brainstorm ways of streamlining the design, approval and construction processes. This will enable more growth, and a solution to California’s urgent need for affordable housing and reducing homelessness.

About FABRIC
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. They are also building on the momentum of state-wide leadership in embodied carbon reduction policies, and a state building code which adopts the use of mass timber as a viable and fire-resistant structural system. The company also aims to address the state’s housing crisis by offering an efficient and modular alternative to traditional multi-family to interim homeless housing construction.

About WRNS Studio
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.