Passion Project

The dynamic, new, $69-million Provo City Hall and Public Safety Building is a boon to the citizens of Utah’s fourth-largest city.
By Brad Fullmer

At the grand opening of the Provo City Hall and Public Safety Building on July 2—an appropriate kick-off to the city’s Independence Day festivities—Provo Mayor Michelle Kaufusi couldn’t contain her emotions at the reality of the new $69-million multi-purpose building finally being completed.
“It’s been such a labor of love—I can’t believe we are here,” said Kaufusi, choking up. “This was such a passion project and something I didn’t know would work, but I [was] going to shoot for the stars.”
The new 205,000-SF, six-story (five levels with a basement) facility at the corner of Center Street and 500 West is a significant milestone for Kaufusi, a Provo native who admits to having more than a vested interest in seeing her hometown thrive. It replaces a severely outdated 40-year-old structure and will serve as a modern civic hub to the City’s downtown, housing myriad functions including public service, city administration, city council and chambers, 911/emergency operations center (EOC), police department, and fire department administration. 
When Kaufusi took office as Mayor in 2017, she quickly became aware that the city—Utah’s fourth-largest with 114,000 residents—had woeful buildings for its existing city hall and emergency response departments. She immediately set out to raise awareness and funding for a future project. Kaufusi and her staff campaigned tirelessly to rally community support to bond for this project, and their efforts paid off when it passed by 422 votes in November 2018. 
“It’s been an incredible journey,” said the Mayor. “Our goal was to educate people and leave it up to the voters. By working together, we have made Provo safer for generations to come.”
“This building stands as a pillar to police officers throughout the U.S.,” said Rich Ferguson, former Police Chief. “Our community is great. They value [officers]—they respect them as we respect our citizens.”
“[Mayor Kaufusi] showed courage,” added Scott Henderson, Project Director for Provo City. “[Her] clear direction was felt through this entire project. Rare is the opportunity that we get to work with and for our heroes. Our police and fire chiefs are completely committed to Provo and its safety.”
Henderson praised the design team led by Salt Lake-based VCBO Architecture and the construction team led by Sandy-based Layton Construction, for their collective efforts to get this project completed on budget and on time, despite diverse challenges during 2020–2021.
 “This team took the intricacies of public safety and protecting citizens and combined it into a building that promotes efficiency,” said Henderson, adding that some citizens have a mentality that public, taxpayer-funded buildings shouldn’t be “too nice.” But, he continued, “If we wanted mediocre outcomes, then we hired the wrong architecture firm and project team. We were all working under the premise that Provo citizens deserve the best.”
“Brent Tippets is an amazing talent,” he said of the VCBO Principal. “We developed a sibling rivalry—we were always chipping away and pushing each other. [Brent’s team] took this project and made it amazing.” 
Henderson had equally high praise for Layton’s team and subcontractors, while singling out Calvin Ostler, Project Superintendent for Layton, for his dedication and commitment to do things right. 
“We experienced the worst construction influences in my lifetime—the pandemic, labor shortages, supply chain disruptions, and inflation—yet this project sits on time and on budget,” said Henderson. “There is not a project in the United States that would not trade us for this outcome. It’s due to Layton’s project analysis and early procurement that this project was kept on track. When you spend two years with people, you become a band of brothers. We have experienced ups and downs, but being a band of brothers made us so committed to deliver this building as it stands today.”

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Complex Building with Multiple Tenants Challenges Design Team

The combination of end users makes the Provo City Hall and Public Safety Building one of the more remarkable projects constructed in the city’s recent history, particularly considering the functionality needed for the different occupants. 

Tippets, Principal-in-Charge for VCBO, admitted that his team—which included Casey Skinner (Project Manager) and Nathan Leavitt (Project Architect)—really had to “put on our thinking caps to solve a lot of problems” with how to accommodate multiple needs in one building. 

“The combination of public safety combined with city hall functions makes it very unique—more so than you might think,” said Tippets. “The separation of all the security was quite a challenge. We came up with a good solution with public safety on one side and city on the other side.”

A dynamic four-story lobby space designed around a “slot canyon” concept turned out to be an incredible visual highlight that worked well within the space constraints, Tippets added. The design team spent a great deal of time during planning phases interviewing various end users to ensure staff and citizens would get everything they needed. 

“We’ve done several municipal-type projects, and this one was unique,” said Tippets. “We had to go in quite deep on the public safety side and understand all their needs and even try to see beyond what their needs were. They lived in such an archaic facility for so long. We did some research on some other facilities and reached out for input.”

The client requested that police/public safety/911 emergency operations spaces be designed to meet the national standards of the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies —both from a functional and physical facility standpoint. 

Another highlight is that the building was designed to meet stringent Net Zero sustainability standards. The all-electric building required a complex energy model along with specialized HVAC and cooling systems. 

The electrical system, designed by Salt Lake-based Spectrum Engineers, required careful coordination with Provo City Power for redundant utility service to the building. A powerful 2.5-MW diesel generator provides backup for critical functions, ensuring continued operation during power outages or other catastrophic events. The data center was engineered for 99.99% reliability and uptime and features digitally controlled LED luminaires with automatic occupancy and daylighting sensors. Other technological highlights include state-of-the-art audio/visual systems, video surveillance, access control, intrusion detection, and structured cabling for all data networks. 

Structurally, the building is designed to withstand a major seismic event with a structural steel and buckling restrained brace system with concrete on metal decking. Exterior finishes of steel, concrete, brick, GFRC, EIFS, and an aluminum storefront offer a strong aesthetic appeal. 


Construction Team Measures Up

For Brian McBeth, Layton’s Construction Manager, this project brought back fond memories of his time studying construction management at Brigham Young University. A newlywed at the time, he and his wife lived for a year in an apartment a stone’s throw away from the project site, which used to be home to a Firestone tire shop and Rocky Mountain Drive-In.

“My wife and I would go there for shakes and dinner,” he recalled. “We had our first son in Provo and used to take him to get ice cream and go play in Pioneer Park [across the street from the new complex].” 

McBeth said the building, which broke ground in April 2020 (coinciding with the pandemic), proved to be a more challenging project due to the uniqueness of building a multi-functional space coupled with the many negative factors mentioned by Henderson. 

“Building-wise, it was unique because it was the marrying of separate offices and buildings […] and just trying to bring everybody into one building. Anytime you bring police into a building, it makes the building type different,” McBeth said, citing ballistics glass and drywall needs, and other measures for city council chambers. 

During initial excavation, crews encountered underground oil tanks that required state remediation, an old swimming pool, and other old structural elements. McBeth said it was a “very interesting site” with flowing water at about 12 feet underground. An elaborate dewatering process with seven pumps was put in place for crews to build footings and do foundation work. 

Overall, he said, the entire construction team performed admirably over the 26-month schedule, despite the project starting at the tail end of tariffs, the early days of Covid, supply chain and price escalation issues, etc. 

 “You think of some of the worst building times we’ve been through, and it all hit on this one project,” said McBeth. “We got the ‘best of everything’ on this project and still finished on time and under budget.”


Provo City Hall and Public Safety Building

Cost: $69 million ($57 million construction cost)

Delivery Method: CM/GC

Square Feet: 205,000 

Levels/Stories: Five levels (with basement)

Owner: Provo City

Owner’s Rep: Scott Henderson; Dick Blackham


Design Team

Architect: VCBO Architecture

Civil: Great Basin Engineering

Electrical: Spectrum Engineers

Mechanical: Heath Engineering

Structural: Reaveley Engineers

Geotech: GSH Geotechnical 

Landscape: Arcsitio Design


Construction Team

General Contractor: Layton Construction

Concrete: Layton Construction 

Plumbing: KHI Mechanical 

HVAC: KHI Mechanical

Electrical: Wilkinson Electric

Masonry: Troy Hales Masonry

Drywall: Muddy Boys, Inc. 

Acoustics: K&L Acoustic & Drywall, Inc.

Painting: Grow Painting

Tile/Stone: Millcreek Tile & Stone

Carpentry: Associated Fixture Manufacturing

Flooring: Design Team

Roofing: Flynn/Noorda

Glass/Curtain Wall: Linford Contract Glazing

Waterproofing: Hooley Caulking, Inc. 

Steel Fabrication: Schuff Steel 

Steel Erection: J&M Steel Solutions

Excavation: Siri Contracting

Demolition: Siri Contracting

Landscaping: Stratton & Bratt Landscapes


Fun Facts:

1,400 tons of steel on the project. 1,400 tons x 2,000 lbs. = 2.8 million pounds of steel.

  1. miles of plumbing piping

4.1 miles of HVAC duct/159,00 lbs. of duct (weight of 130 steel frame cars)

262,000 LF (about 50 miles) of conduit. If you add MC cable it increases to 84 miles.

9,300 cubic yards of concrete = 4-ft. wide sidewalk 35 miles long.

The project includes space for: police administration; fire administration; secure parking; holding cells; dog kennels; emergency operations center; dispatch/911 call center; crime lab; armory; SWAT; training room; vehicle evidence bays; evidence storage; physical fitness training/gym; electronic crimes division; community/press room.


Black Desert Oasis

By Brad Fullmer • October 15, 2025
When Lehi-based Reef Capital Partners (Reef) initially announced plans in 2018 to build a sprawling, estimated $2 billion mega-resort with a championship-caliber golf course on 600 acres covering parts of Ivins and Santa Clara—small towns with just over 15,000 combined residents at the time—it was difficult to fathom what a project of that magnitude might look like. Fast forward seven years, and Black Desert Resort is indeed a shining oasis amidst Southern Utah's famed red rock cliffs, sitting atop an ancient lava field, with buildings strategically carved into the land to produce a resort unlike anything else. "This is the biggest project we've ever done—we feel really good where we are," said Brett Boren, President of Real Estate for Reef, acknowledging the general completion of the $290 million, 806,000-SF resort center, along with significant ongoing work—including a 1,298-stall parking garage, condominiums, and a private water park. As of September, all aspects of the main resort center were open and fully complete, with the hotel celebrating its first official year in business after partially opening in September 2024 as it hosted the inaugural PGA Black Desert Championship October 10-13. The second installment of the tournament—now dubbed the Bank of Utah Championship—is slated for October 23-26, with a third tournament signed for 2026.

Calder Richards Celebrates 20 Years of Sustainable Evolution

By UC&D • October 1, 2025
In 2005, Calder Richards Consulting Engineers formed after the merger of two smaller structural consulting firms who, interestingly enough, both started in 1986. Calder Richards has provided a steady structural support for Utah’s built environment ever since. As the firm celebrates its 20th anniversary, UC+D spoke with Managing Principals Shaun Packer and Nolan Balls to look back over the company’s history and celebrate what has helped their firm stand out to deliver solid projects in Utah and beyond. Their responses were edited for clarity and brevity. UC+D: What have been some catalytic moments for Calder Richards since that initial merger? SP: Winning the Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona is the first one. The big reason for the merger between Richards Consulting Group and Calder Consulting was to build a large enough company to go after bigger projects like that.” NB: That was my first project when I was hired straight out of college. We helped design the 17-story hotel and casino, a conference center, as well as parking structures, a central mechanical building, and a pool building. Talking Stick helped get us through the downturn a few years later. UC+D: What have been your key market sectors you all have targeted over the last 20 years? NB: We were breaking into K-12 along the Wasatch Front soon after the Talking Stick Resort and it’s been our bread and butter since then. SP: Absolutely, but I credit our firm for always adapting to the current environment. We’ve been fortunate to do so much K-12, but we used to do a lot of office work, and now we are working on conversions like the Ebay Headquarters to CTE/Innovation Center for Canyons School District as the market has shifted away from commercial office. UC+D: Schools have certainly evolved over the last 20 years, how has your work as structural engineers evolved? SP: We are seeing more creative design on the architectural side, certainly. We see many more two-story designs; more windows and daylighting. But we’re utilizing more powerful tools and continually building our understanding of the structural materials that are in use more than ever—tilt-up concrete, steel columns and beams, especially—to be the architect’s trusted partner. NB: Schools have definitely changed, and we’ve had better experience in helping projects move forward successfully when we are involved earlier in the design process. As we got involved early on in West High School’s schematic design, we were able to provide structural solutions and options to accommodate the architects’ design intent. UC+D: How has company growth changed Calder Richards? SP: It’s certainly changed the number of people in our office. We started with around 10 people when we merged, and today we have 27. But we often say that we don’t want to grow just to grow—we want to grow sustainably. We don’t lay people off when works slows down, and we have an expectation that sometimes there will be overtime work, and other times you may be waiting for our next project to begin.

The (Epi)Center of it All

By By Taylor Larsen • October 1, 2025
Nested in the middle of the University of Utah (U of U) campus sits the aptly-named Impact & Prosperity Epicenter, the second living learning community (LLC) project designed on campus by Los Angeles-based Yazdani Studio of CannonDesign. After nearly a decade since their first LLC project, the award-winning Lassonde Studios (UC+D’s 2016 Most Outstanding Public Building over $10 million), Mehrdad Yazdani, the design firm’s Principal and Studio Director, said their work on a sequel was an exciting prospect for the firm, and enlisted Salt Lake-based MHTN Architects and Okland Construction to serve as the respective local architect and general contractor. Today, the Epicenter serves as a striking piece of architecture and construction, one whose curvilinear shape asks users and visitors plenty of questions. But moving from idea to execution has been a work in progress. One query from Yazdani stood out as it relates to students and the built environment, and helped begin the journey to create the Epicenter: “How does your living environment as a student impact your success as a student and as a changemaker?” A Project for an Evolving Campus Katie Macc, CEO of the Sorenson Impact Institute, said LLCs like the Epicenter and Lassonde Studios next door have been massive steps forward in advancing entrepreneurship and social impact. But both play a major role in creating “college town magic”—a phrase coined by University President Taylor Randall that invokes a vibrant campus where students can find community and have one-of-a-kind experiences. With more on-campus student housing in the works, the state’s flagship university is hoping to shed the “commuter school” label and deliver a level of desirability that matches the resources students commit to higher education. “There is some soul searching going on across university campuses,” said Macc of the challenge at hand. “We have to be convincing that going to college matters.” She said overall university enrollments across the nation are decreasing as students grapple with tuition costs, COVID and its isolating aftershocks, and a different perspective on higher education. Universities are no longer a place where students come to learn what they couldn’t learn elsewhere—remote learning and the internet have opened a fissure in that idea that will never close. Instead of that educational transaction, being at a university must include building community and creating in-person experiences only available on campus. Macc said that the Epicenter helps steer the campus experience toward the future, with design goals to create a base of operations for two changemaking organizations and a living and learning home for 778 students. The three-story commercial portion of the building, known as the “Changemaker Pavilion”, includes office space for The Center for Business, Health, and Prosperity (second floor) and the Sorenson Impact Institute (third floor). While each organization has a different focus, both are firmly invested in helping students access and create the resources needed to change the world. Each entity works hand-in-hand as owners of the Epicenter to host events and “create a full spectrum of ways for students to get involved,” said Chad Salvadore, Chief Financial Officer for the Sorenson Impact Institute. “We’re dialing in the programming to energize the student body,” said Salvadore of the work done at the Epicenter. With over 60 majors represented among the 778 students who live there, he said that the diversity of students is less a reflection of their chosen major and more a desire to reside in a space built for students to work their entrepreneurial muscles. “Living here is a mindset—you can engage across many different paths you choose.”

Goal!

By Brad Fullmer • October 1, 2025
Front view of the bleachers, press box, and suites. (photos courtesy SIRQ Construction)

Four Decades of Transformation

By Brad Fullmer • October 1, 2025
Over the course of its 40-year history in Utah, WSP's Salt Lake office—originally founded as Parsons Brinckerhoff in 1985—has morphed from primarily a transportation design firm to one that successfully operates in multiple civil engineering markets. The results of WSP's transformation the past decade into a more diverse outfit speak for themselves, with the 128-person Salt Lake office (with locations in Cottonwood Heights and South Jordan) posting three consecutive years of revenues over $50 million, including a record $70.1 million in 2023, and a robust $59.9 million in 2024—good for the No. 2 ranking in UC+D's 2025 Top Utah Engineering Firms rankings.

Good Career? Start Here

By Taylor Larsen • October 1, 2025
Lucio Gallegos vividly remembers the workforce development meetings he attended during his time at Ogden-Weber Tech. These career and technical education (CTE) discussions consistently focused on one thing: young people were not entering construction, and the industry needed a new approach to attract them. Gallegos recalled one member of the workforce development team, a training director with a prominent general contractor, saying, “We have been trying this for over 10 years, screw it, we’re just gonna hire them.” The Long Road Those conversations occurred nearly 10 years ago, and workforce development concerns continue to permeate the industry. The National Center for Construction Education & Research estimates that 41% of the construction workforce will retire by 2031, leading to potential gaps in skill and safety and decreases in productivity and project quality. While stakeholders have aligned on the overall goal of providing students a foundation for future success through career development, the means to achieve the ends were seemingly at odds. High schools, trade schools, colleges, and private industry took different paths to achieve their goals, with some moving in opposite directions. “I’m gonna be honest with you,” Gallegos recalled one school administrator saying, “If I promote what you’re telling me to get them over to the tech college, I lose head count. And then I lose teachers. I can’t have a school without teachers.” Jobs that took away student learning experiences, according to federal guidelines and child labor laws, made the idea a non-starter. However, after years of lobbying the Utah Legislature for a compromise between industry and education, H.B. 055, passed in 2023, provided a catalytic change in how younger people can engage with construction and other industries. High school students could participate if they were involved in a school-sponsored work experience and career exploration program. Private industry finally had the compromise it wanted. It was time to act. Big-D Charts New Path Gallegos, now the Workforce Development Manager from Big-D, joined the company in 2023 with the express purpose of creating a program that fit within the new guidelines. Gallegos said he sees career development through the lens of the immigrant experience, one he knows personally as a Mexican immigrant with a father who worked in commercial construction. “I was 9 years old and busting pins out of concrete forms with a hammer that was as big as I was,” he laughed. “I’ve got the cliché immigrant story.” That story has a theme familiar to many immigrant families, he said, one where parents say, “I want my kids not to have to work as hard as I do. I want them in school.” Add to that, it’s a law—children must attend school. Gallegos was unfazed by those obstacles. As he began planning how Big-D’s internship program would operate, he knew that engagement had to start at the elementary school level and build on personal relationships between private industry, school administrators, students, and their families to succeed. “We want to be the solution, not the obstacle to get into this industry,” said Gallegos. So Big-D removed the barriers. Students can still attend school, work towards graduation, and be available in the afternoon for sports, extracurricular activities, and the high school experience. But working was another significant part of the immigrant experience, Gallegos said, and internships needed to be paid to alleviate the family concerns. “We asked what we would pay somebody fresh out of high school who worked at Big-D,” Gallegos said. Interns have earned those same wages ever since.

It's A Knockout

By Brad Fullmer • October 1, 2025
On January 2, 1957, Gene Fullmer, a scrappy, underdog fighter from West Jordan stunned the boxing world with a 15-round unanimous decision over the legendary Sugar Ray Robinson at New York’s fabled Madison Square Garden. Fullmer captured the world middleweight championship and established himself as one of the best pound-for-pound boxers during the late 50s and early 60s. Since then, the Fullmer name has been synonymous with boxing in Utah, with brothers Gene, Jay, and Don establishing the Fullmer Brothers Boxing Gym in 1978, and offering free boxing instruction and life mentoring to thousands of youths—carrying on a tradition they learned from their trainer, Marv Jenson. Their legacy of community giving will live on in the new Fullmer Legacy Center in South Jordan, a 16,500-SF facility that will serve as a permanent home to the boxing gym—after years of bouncing around to various temporary facilities—along with a museum, snack bar, and gift shop. “The Fullmers are the first family of boxing in the state of Utah—that’s well understood,” said Dave Butterfield, a founding board member of the Fullmer Legacy Foundation. Butterfield served as Chairman of the Board from June 2016 to early 2025 and was influential in helping raise money—nearly $6 million via donations to date, which includes $2 million from the Utah Legislature. Project Driven by Vision to Find a Permanent Home for Fullmer Brothers Gym It was Jay Fullmer who led the charge to teach boxing in the community. By 1978, the Fullmer Brothers Boxing Gym had formally opened at the Butterfield farm chicken coop in South Jordan, recalled Larry Fullmer, Don’s oldest son and the man who spearheaded the efforts for the Fullmer Legacy Center. From there, Larry said the facility moved to Riverton Elementary, an old church house in West Jordan, a sugar factory, a former fire station, and the Salt Lake County Equestrian Park in South Jordan, where it had resided since 2011. When they got word that Salt Lake County planned to transfer ownership of the park to Utah State University, Fullmer knew they needed to find a long-term home for the boxing gym. Fullmer met with Butterfield and Robert Behunin—who at the time was a Vice President with Utah State University—in 2016 and told them he just wanted a “tin shed of our own” for boxing. Behunin countered by saying, “If you want people to donate money, you need something better than a tin shed!” They quickly formed the Fullmer Legacy Foundation (FLF), and by 2018, the wheels were in motion on a building. Doc Murdock, a long-time trainer at the gym, connected Larry with his former roommate at Brigham Young University, Vern Latham, who is a Principal at Salt Lake-based VCBO Architecture. VCBO offered pro-bono services initially while helping FLF put together an RFP, while North Salt-based Gramoll Construction provided value engineering and other services in an effort to get the project launched. Larry expressed sheer gratitude for the contributions of both firms in helping make the project a reality, especially for many generous donations from various foundations and individuals. “[VCBO] believed in us early on and did our first phase of planning at no charge—they have been amazing and so professional to work with,” said Larry. “Gramoll helped us get the budget done as tight as it could be. This project had the absolute tightest budget. We met weekly with architects and the general contractor to see the progress—I’ve never seen such an amazing process. Construction started in November ’23, and every time I would come to the jobsite in the first six months, I’d get emotional.” “We leaned on our relationships with contractors for flooring, ceiling, tiles, donated furniture and got deep discounts and a lot of in-kind donations,” said Phil Haderlie, Principal-in-Charge for VCBO. “To me, the story of this project is the grassroots effort of people seeing the value—this is something that came from their heart. It will have a long-lasting impact on the community.”

Significant Buzz

By Brad Fullmer • October 1, 2025
The first season is in the books for the Salt Lake Bees in its spectacular new home—the Ballpark at America First Square, the exciting new heart of Downtown Daybreak and certainly one of the premier Triple-A stadiums in the country. "It's a really cool stadium—the field looks so good!" gushed Eric Barton, Project Director for Salt Lake-based Okland Construction, while surveying the spacious 280,000 SF, 6,500-seat (8,000 capacity) ballpark. Barton said his team faced an extremely difficult construction schedule with the mandate the project had to be sufficiently ready for Opening Day 2025 on April 8, less than 18 months after the formal October 20, 2023, groundbreaking. Barton said Okland knew it was going to be a grind, with long hours and tight windows to get various milestones accomplished. "When we bid this to our trade partners, we had them bid it with the expectation of it being six days a week," he said. "We want not only your best guys, but you have to be adaptable to the plan. It was gangbusters from the start.” Up to 300 workers were onsite during peak construction activity, requiring meticulous coordination throughout. Okland even brought in Fred Strasser, a legendary project director who came out of retirement to shepherd the project through. "Fred is the genius behind getting this whole thing done," said Barton. The project was designed by Salt Lake-based HOK, who worked closely with the owner, Sandy-based Larry H. Miller Real Estate (LHMRE) and Miller Sports + Entertainment (MSE) to bring about a project that would add even more buzz to its wildly popular, 4,000-acre master planned Daybreak development in South Jordan, making it a true entertainment destination. The design weaves together best-in-class baseball experiences with year-round public amenities, including a recently opened Megaplex theater, a performing arts center, a large amphitheater, along with retail, restaurants, and apartments, with buildout continuing through 2027. Walking paths and open spaces create natural connections between The Ballpark and the surrounding neighborhood, making the area an iconic community asset and a true sports and entertainment district. Downtown Daybreak is slated to host more than 200 annual events—including the Bees’ 75-game regular season. Supporting this entertainment destination, the venue’s prominent location just off the Mountain View Corridor freeway makes it highly visible to passing traffic while providing easy access. The stadium is also connected to multiple transportation options, easily reached by walking, biking or light rail across the Wasatch Front, and by car from the new freeway corridor. The Ballpark site drops 20 feet from the loading dock to the plaza, managed through terraced spaces that echo the region’s mining heritage. Though the slope stays gentle at under 5%, carefully placed stairs and planters make walking comfortable while honoring the industrial past. The center field main entrance connects to light rail, while a formal plaza at home plate serves as a second entrance, primarily for VIP access. The street design follows Daybreak’s established standards for lighting and tree spacing. Bike racks at the light rail station and plaza make cycling to games convenient. Utah’s Landscape Shapes Design The Wasatch Mountains, visible from every angle of the ballpark, directly influenced the ballpark's design. Throughout the venue, carefully planned viewpoints frame these mountain vistas. The structure resembles this mountainous setting in its form, transitioning from solid brick and concrete at its base to lighter materials—metal and expansive glass—as it ascends. Working with Kansas City-based architectural metal fabricator Zahner, HOK and MSE created a distinctive facade using perforated metal panels that suggest Utah mountain peak silhouettes from Ben Lomond Peak in Weber County to Mt. Nebo, the southernmost and highest mountain in the Wasatch Range of Utah. These panels transform into a glowing display at night, serving as a lantern on The Ballpark’s ‘front porch’ and welcoming visitors. This connection to Utah’s landscape flows throughout the site. Angular planters guide visitors along pathways, while public spaces are arranged in terraces that echo the mountainside. The copper colors and stepped surfaces of the nearby Kennecott Mine inspired the ballpark’s materials and layout. Inside, the decor features warm copper, gold and honey tones, with textured materials that blend the natural landscape with the Salt Lake Bees’ team colors.

Firms Making Moves

By Brad Fullmer • October 1, 2025
Horrocks CEO Bryan Foote (left) shakes hands with Matt Hirst, former President/CEO of CRS Engineering & Survey. Horrocks acquired CRS a year ago in a move that has proven to be a seamless fit for more than 60 CRS employees.

Q&A with Nathan Goodrich

By UC&D • August 1, 2025
Nathan Goodrich