The units have fiber-reinfcorced composite polymer (FRP) facade panels that have an insulative interior of mycelium, the roots of mushrooms. MBH Architects also used the Autodesk Forma conceptual cloud tool to make design decisions, such as moving greenspaces so that they will be more accessible, adding floors and changing individual building heights to gauge how it impacts sustainability. Revit was used for detailed design.

The 36-ft-long FRP facade panels were developed and are being fabricated by Kreysler & Associates, a facade consultant in American Canyon, Calif. The mycelium biomaterial is being formed and “baked” into shapes that fit into the panels by Ecovative, a sustainable products company from Green Island, NY. The mycelium inserts sequester more carbon dioxide than is emitted by the entire production of the panel due to the volume of plant-based material. The mycelium and the specific properties it was grown with allows the panels to achieve fire resistance, acoustic, thermal and energy absorption ratings.

Factory_OS is a modular builder that Autodesk has invested in and which builds full apartments—two-bedroom and one-bedroom units—onsite in its Vallejo, Calif. factory. Factory_OS and Kreysler are both using Autodesk’s Design and Make platform to coordinate production and plan deliveries.

The mycelium fill of the Phoenix panels has insulative and acoustic properties.
Photo by Jeff Yoders/ENR

MBH and Factory_OS have developed more than 25 different modular apartment variations that can be stacked like LEGO in several ways for better building orientation or different functions. The team hopes to begin placing them on the West Oakland site by spring, pending approvals, and have the project completed by 2025.

“I think most people agree that work on the job site is difficult to do efficiently and correctly, unless it’s assembling manufactured products,” says William Kreysler, president of Kreysler & Associates, which has created composite materials for use in art, architecture, and industrial applications for 40 years. The goal of getting buildings built quickly and more sustainably using these methods appeals to him, he adds.

“For a facade, conventionally you hire a contractor, build a scaffolding, get a stack of Trespa panels out there and a bunch of aluminum extrusions and start putting up a facade on this scaffolding assembly,” he says.

It’s a long process. Kreysler said incentives will help bring systems such as The Phoenix into use. “There has to be an incentive, whether that’s in the state of California or elsewhere, that’s a real driver for trying to get buildings built quickly.”