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Mass timber products are gaining popularity in North America as an alternative to traditional construction materials as part of both the gravity and lateral force-resisting system. However, several knowledge gaps still exist in terms of their expected seismic performance and plausible hybridizations with other materials, e.g. steel energy dissipators. This research explores the potential use of wall spine systems consisting of mass ply panels (MPP) and steel buckling-restrained braces (BRBs) as energy dissipators. The proposed BRB-MPP spine assembly makes up the lateral force-resisting system of a three-story mass-timber building segment that will be tested under cyclic quasi-static loading at Oregon State University. The proposed design methodology follows displacement-based design principles to determine the minimum required stiffness to limit inelastic story drift ratios at the design earthquake level. The MPP spine and BRB-to-MPP connections were capacity designed to resist forces transferred by the BRBs at roof drift ratios beyond the risk-targeted Maximum Considered Earthquake (MCER). This design solution provides an interesting alternative for the design of modern mass timber buildings. The results obtained in the experimental campaign will be used to validate the design methodology and the behavior of the innovative structural system.