Webcor Craft’s first Webcor Timber project is officially complete.
Last month, Webcor Timber celebrated erecting 1510 Webster’s final floor of mass timber with a topping out BBQ and speeches from Webcor Craft President Chris Plue; Superintendent, Concrete Matt Miller; Project Director, Concrete Matthew Faith; Sr. Construction Manager,Craft Mike Gilmore; and oWow (developer, architect, and general contractor) President Andy Ball, who led Webcor as CEO/president until 2012. Despite the countless challenges inherent in tackling a completely new scope of work, Webcor’s concrete and timber teams delivered the mixed-use high-rise 31 days ahead of the original bid day schedule — an incredible feat fueled by the teams’ rapid four-day (levels 4-8),three-day (levels 9-17), and two-day floor cycles (levels 18 and 19).
“Our Webcor Craft team was an amazing group to work with, especially on our first mass timber project,” Matt Miller says. “Everything was new to us—we had to figure out how to rig the panels and columns, how to efficiently install all the connections and screws, and how to continuously improve our cycle times floor over floor. Completing the structure 31 days early is a testament to our great team execution on a unique project.”
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Standing 19 stories high in the heart of downtown Oakland,1510 Webster is currently one of the country’s tallest mass timber structures and the tallest mass timber structure in California. The mixed-use affordable housing development features 16 floors of mass timber on a three-story concrete podium with a concrete core wall and a shear wall continuing up the building to serve as a lateral system, which was delivered by Webcor Concrete (WCG).
“We worked through all the connection details between concrete and mass timber to strategize a simple and effective solution that saved time and allowed for tolerance,” Matt says. “Concrete can be +/- 1 inch in either direction, while mass timber is manufactured to fall within 1/16 of an inch. After working through this with DCI Engineers, we developed a solution that supported these tolerances in our connections to both the walls and concrete podium slab.”
Building with a mass plywood paneling system positioned Webcor Timber to complete the structure’s floors in nearly half the time and with half the labor typically needed for concrete developments. Once the team learned how to efficiently use the crane to install not only the mass timber, but the reinforcing for the leading core and shear wall, they were able to deliver three-day cycles over the course of eight-hour single shifts for levels 9-17. After completing the leading core and shear wall, they installed the final two floors over a two-day cycle, erecting the final floor on August 2. “The entire Webcor Concrete and Webcor Timber crews excelled and executed this project flawlessly,” Matt says.
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It was the perfect conclusion to 1510 Webster’s story, a journey that began in July 2021. Both WCG and Webcor Timber hit the ground running, reaching all of their milestones at a rapid pace—WCG poured the mat foundation on Feb. 4 and topped out the level three concrete podium on April 10. Webcor Timber erected the first floor of mass timber (level four) on May 4, less than four months before erecting the 19th and final floor.
“It was amazing to watch the crew set the first MPP level four deck, which was 31 panels, in a single shift, then seeing the improvements of setting an entire upper floor in four hours, which was 23 panels,” says MatthewFaith. “I’m so proud of the planning and execution that our team endeavored. Not only did we work for a new client, but we worked alongside a new group of subcontractors, which is a challenge in itself. The project team found ways to improve the schedule of a structure type that we had never built before. Saving over a month on schedule really showcases the planning and coordination efforts put forth by the project team.”
Mike Gilmore similarly reflects on Webcor Timber’s first completed project with deep appreciation for the Craft team’s efficient planning and execution of a new type of construction.
“Mass timber is really like a set of adult Lincoln Logs,” he says. “My favorite day on the job was working alongside our tradesmen—setting columns, installing screws, and setting deck panels. I’ve always enjoyed playing with Lincoln Logs and Legos. These are just a bigger version.”
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"This project is the only high-rise mass ply project in the world," Andy says. "It took oWOW three years of testing, engineering, and designing and a five-story pilot project to put together the system that was used at 1510 Webster. This was followed by hundreds of meetings with insurance companies, investors, lenders, and public officials to convince them to let us build something that had never been attempted before.
"It was great to team up with Webcor again--we are grateful for their expertise and confidence that they could build this structure. The concrete and mass timber components were constructed with speed, precision, and professionalism that is definably better than other companies. Matt Miller and the onsite team were a perfectly synchronized machine and a joy to watch. We very much appreciate the effort put in by Webcor Craft and the classy topping off celebration, especially the oWOW wind vane sculpture from Mike Gilmore and Chris Plue. We look forward to working with Webcor on many future projects."
Congratulations to the entire 1510 Webster team on successfully delivering this innovative and transformative project for the downtown Oakland community: Mike Gilmore; Matt Faith; Matt Miller; Adam Stenberg, project engineer; Justin Holliday, project engineer intern; Jose Barrera, lead carpenter foreman; Omar Ortiz, lead laborer foreman; Baltazar Morales Perez, lead carpenter foremen; Danny Huynh, lead carpenter foreman; Everardo Cervantes, lead carpenter foreman; Jose Guadalupe Limon, carpenter foreman; Juan Luna, labor foremen; the entire CMC reinforcing team (rebar subcontractor); and Interstate ConcretePumping (pumping subcontractor).
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About 1510 Webster
1510 Webster located in Oakland, CA is a concrete and mass plywood mixed-use and affordable housing project. The project totals 185,000 square feet throughout one structure with 19 levels above grade (two concrete levels above grade, 16 mass ply floors, and one steel penthouse), and one basement level. It includes ground-floor retail, a covered public plaza brimming with public art and greenery for social gatherings, 236 residential one-bedroom and two-bedroom units, a bar and café at level one, an outdoor residential terrace at level eight, and an indoor residential amenity space on the roof with an open space on the residential roof deck.
1510 Webster is unique not only for its sustainability benefits—mass timber buildings produce significantly less carbon than concrete does—but for its direct community impact, providing affordable housing for the“missing middle class.” About 20 percent of the residential units will be designated as affordable for households earning around 80 percent of the AreaMedian Income.
1510 Webster in the News
· ENR California: Mass Plywood Panels Add Strength, Speed to Oakland, Calif., High-Rise
