Nestled among the towering redwoods of Northern California, the new 74,000-square-foot Engineering & Technology Building at Cal Poly Humboldt expands the existing university's facilities with a new expansive mass timber structure. As the first mass timber academic facility in the California State University system, the three-story building reflects a deep commitment to environmental responsibility and regional identity. Designed by AC Martin and built by Swinerton Builders, the structure combines a mass timber frame with reinforced concrete shear walls. It will house Cal Poly Humboldt’s Computer Science and Software Engineering departments. With 15 teaching labs, a 48-seat classroom, and multiple collaboration spaces, the facility represents the first significant academic infrastructure investment on the Arcata campus since 2008. Surrounded by redwood forests and funded by a $100 million public investment, the project sets a new precedent for sustainable design across the CSU system.

Timberlab will deliver a complex mass timber scope—supporting the effort from early bid through final fabrication. Our team provided glulam manufacturing and fabrication through our vertically integrated operations. Working closely with Swinerton during preconstruction, Timberlab delivered value-engineering solutions that reduced the building’s steel content by over 275,000 pounds through custom collector plate detailing, provided cost-effective timber sourcing strategies, and helped resolve critical fire code challenges with innovative glulam blocking details.