Concord, California-based Swinerton has a new mass timber lead.
Amid growing demand for the material, the contractor has tapped William Silva as the company’s new director of national mass timber, according to a Dec. 9 news release. Swinerton has charged Silva with creating the company’s new mass timber center of excellence, a cross-functional initiative to integrate the firm more closely with its mass timber affiliate, Timberlab.
As of Dec. 9, Swinerton and Timberlab have constructed over 80 mass timber projects nationwide, with an additional 30 in design or under construction, per the release. The projects total nearly 6.5 million square feet. The pair also recently topped out a 192,000-square-foot manufacturing facility for cross-laminated timber.
Silva and the center of excellence will focus on centralizing the firms’ expertise and driving innovation with the building material, as well as mass timber advocacy within the industry, including for policy reform to help spur further adoption. The initiative will also focus on research to drive cost and schedule efficiencies and support grants that remove market barriers.
Demand for mass timber has grown over the past decade, according to data from WoodWorks, a nonprofit that advocates for use of the alternative building material. As of September 2025, 2,598 multifamily, commercial or institutional mass timber projects have been built, a sharp increase from the 439 projects in September 2018.
Silva has spent 15 years with Swinerton, and has over three decades of experience in the construction industry, per the news release. He led the company’s first mass timber project in 2016, and has been key to the Swinerton’s push with the material since.
“William’s leadership in mass timber is unmatched,” said Tim Kretzschmar, COO of Swinerton, in the news release. “His expertise and vision will accelerate our efforts to make mass timber a mainstream construction solution.”
The company has been one of the highest profile contractors championing the material, especially as an alternative to steel. In June, Chris Evans, Timberlab’s CEO, told Construction Dive the material could provide contractors options amid steel tariffs.
