Here's the 2nd of five myths we hear most often — and why they need to go.

(If you missed the first - you can learn about it here)

At the 2025 Mass Timber Group Summit, we’re putting these myths to rest for good — backed by real project data, expert insights, and lessons learned directly from teams in the field.

✅ Myth 2: Mass Timber is Only for Large Buildings

For years, mass timber was seen as a material reserved for bold, headline-grabbing projects — 10+ story towers in urban cores, university innovation hubs, and flagship public buildings. But that’s outdated thinking. Mass timber’s versatility isn’t just for the skyline — it’s showing up in modular homes, workforce housing, ADUs, and even single-family projects across North America.

Matt’s Place: Modular Timber Homes for Accessibility & Sustainability

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The Matt’s Place project offers one of the clearest examples of mass timber breaking into smaller-scale, high-performance housing. Conceived as an accessible, climate-resilient home for people living with ALS, Matt’s Place uses prefabricated mass timber panels & modular components to accelerate construction, enhance durability, and significantly improve energy performance.

• Mass timber panels form the building’s shell, reducing framing time to just a few days.
• Panels are pre-cut and arrive ready for assembly, minimizing on-site waste and labor.
• Integrated mechanical chases and pre-installed systems (like plumbing and electrical components) further speed up construction.

This project is now in its third iteration — proof that the system works and can be replicated at scale for affordable and accessible housing.

Alex Zink, AIA & Brian Court from The Miller Hull Partnership, LLP, DCI Engineers, and Andy Barrett will be helping you understand how to apply the same lessons from Matt's place to you own projects in Denver this summer (more on that later).

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Timber Age Systems: Mass Timber for Local, Attainable Homes

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In Durango, Colorado, Kyle Hanson and the Timber Age™ team is proving that mass timber isn’t just for big cities or luxury projects. Their panelized mass timber system is designed specifically for attainable, high-performance housing. What sets them apart:

• Walls built from locally harvested Ponderosa Pine — sourced locally.
• Panels arrive pre-insulated (R-52), air-sealed, and ready for cladding — dramatically reducing site labor.
• Typical shell installation time: 2-3 days for a 1,000 SF home.
• Price point for the structural shell: as low as $85 per square foot — directly competitive with traditional high-performance framing.

This approach solves several challenges at once: it boosts local forestry economies, reduces embodied carbon, supports workforce housing, and makes passive house-level performance attainable. Timber Age is actively delivering homes in Colorado and beyond — proving mass timber works at residential scale.

The Takeaway

The truth is, mass timber isn’t inherently a “big building” material. It’s a high-performance, modular-friendly, design-flexible system that scales up or down depending on the project needs. What’s been holding mass timber back in residential and small-scale markets isn’t the material itself — it’s outdated assumptions perpetuated by some members of the design and construction community.

With teams like Timber Age and projects like Matt’s Place leading the charge — there’s no reason to leave mass timber off the table for homes, ADUs, or small commercial buildings.

That’s exactly what we’ll break down at the 2025 Mass Timber Group Summit—real-world numbers, hard-earned lessons, direct from the teams proving mass timber works at any scale.

👉 Secure Your Spot at the Summit

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Up Next: Myth 3 - You Already Need to Be a Specialist to Design & Build with Mass Timber

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