Pump It Up

Gene Burbidge took a flyer bringing a concrete pumping truck to the Wasatch Front in 1972. A half century later, Burbidge Concrete Pumping stands as an industry titan in the Beehive State, having pumped over 20 million yards spanning every major building market.
By Brad Fullmer

It’s been more than a half-century since Salt Lake-native Eugene “Gene” Burbidge ventured down to California to purchase a concrete pumping truck and establish Burbidge Concrete Pumping (BCP) in 1972, one of the first such firms in Utah to take a flyer on a fledgling industry that was born in the late-60s. 

“What a wild deal,” said Vaughn Burbidge, 65, the youngest of three brothers (Gene and his wife, Alice, had five sons and one daughter). He’s worked at the firm in various capacities and at various times the past 50 years, and he pooled their collective business acumen to grow the company into an industry titan after Gene passed away at 65 from Leukemia in January 1990. “He really went out on a limb, but saw there was a need and helped fill it.”

Gene was a hard worker, a keen businessman, and not afraid to reinvent himself in different industries. 
“My dad was involved in a lot of things,” said Dennis Burbidge, 78, the eldest of the six siblings. “He had a meat pie shop, restaurant, a service station—and then started peddling cars. He was always interested in new things.”

That led to a 25-plus-year career selling used cars, both as a dealer and for Salt Lake-based Streator Chevrolet. By the time the 70s rolled around, Gene had caught wind of the concrete pumping business via a visiting cousin who had started a company in Portland, Oregon. When his cousin learned the Salt Lake market was devoid of pumping trucks, he convinced Gene to go for it. 

“He was [48] and was not going to jump into something that would [hurt] him financially, but I said to him, ‘Dad, you don’t know the difference between concrete and cream of wheat,’” Dennis laughed. “He was visionary—he could just see it. The next thing you know he had one pump, two pumps […] and he hired some great employees to start with.”

“Everybody said, ‘Hey, you got to be a little crazy,’” said Dave Burbidge, 68, adding in a memory of Gene’s uncle, Enoch Smith. 

Smith operated a prominent civil/utility construction firm in Utah for 50-plus years, and he said to his nephew, "Gene, you cannot pump concrete!" 

“His competition came to him and said, ‘You’ll last six months,’” said Dennis. “Six years later that guy was [out of business].” 
In addition to his sons, Gene hired people like Joe Dawson, who retired in January after 44 years and was widely praised for his loyalty, work ethic, and ability to get the work done. 

“Joe was always incredibly good,” said Vaughn. “He was everything. He could run a pump and diagnose problems no one else could. He knew more about pumping than anyone in the industry. It’s all about keeping it running. Get a really good mechanic because concrete is really hard on equipment.” 

“Joe Dawson was a rock star,” Dave said, flatly. He added that Gene was always on top of new technology and even developed computer programs that would do cost analyses on how much it cost to pump a yard of concrete. “We have the best mechanics known to the civilized world.”

Tight Familial Bonds; Strong Work Ethic; Enjoying Fruits of Labor 

Gene insisted the Burbidge children learn the value of hard work at an early age, and the collective family success in various business careers—not just with concrete pumping—is impressive.


Dennis, 78, was a finance major who worked as a manager for Continental Bank, running the 1600 South Main branch in Salt Lake for several years. He has the most collective full-time years (37) at BCP, working from 1976–1992 as a dispatcher, and then from 1992–2013 in business development/sales. 


Three siblings pursued careers outside BCP. Mike, 76, was in sales and ran a successful bed and breakfast with his wife in tiny Tropic, Utah for years. Richard, 74, is a highly respected attorney at Salt Lake-based Burbidge|Mitchell and is considered one of the best trial lawyers in the Intermountain West. Dave said a magazine article “once referred to him as the most feared attorney in Utah.” Carol, 70, earned an MBA from the University of Utah and was on the U’s women’s golf club. She had successful careers with JC Penny Corp. and American Express, and helped Gene with dispatching, running the operations out of a Chevy Luv truck in the business’ early years. 


Dave, 68, founded Burbidge Disposal in 1976 and grew it into the largest independent commercial waste service in Utah (a fleet of 28 garbage trucks at its peak) before selling it in 1998 and rejoining BCP after a brief, three-week retirement. He was one of a handful of wildly successful entrepreneurs profiled in the 1998 book Glorious Accidents by Utah-based author Michael J. Glauser. He has been President of BCP since 2017. 


Vaughn, 65, studied economics in college and was a top executive at PacifiCorp for 10 years before purchasing BCP outright in April 1992, a little over two years after Gene died. He’s served in a variety of roles over the past 30 years, including President from 1992–2017. 


“Concrete is in the blood, and I love everything we’ve done and look forward to everything we’re going to do,” Vaughn said. “If all the concrete that we’ve pumped disappeared, it would look like an atomic bomb went off along the Wasatch front. We’ve been a big part of the construction industry.” 


Beyond his business sense, Dennis said Gene was “very much a people person” who enjoyed being generous and having a great time with family, friends, and associates, whether it be hosting huge Pioneer Day bashes to dressing up in a fully decked-out Santa Claus outfit and roaming various Salt Lake neighborhoods on Christmas Eve, surprising total strangers with gifts and jovial holiday banter. 


“Dad was the bandleader, and he wouldn’t mind sharing the band with everybody,” said Dennis. 

BCP is also proud of the synergistic relationship and willingness to do whatever it takes to meet client needs, above everything else. 


Dennis gets credit for being the “face” of the company over his last 21 years, the guy on the front lines schmoozing clients and drumming up new business. Dave considers himself a “truck guy, a nuts-and-bolts guy” at heart who likes to operate pumping trucks and get his hands dirty. He leads the charge of the fleet, buying and selling pumping trucks as needed to keep ahead of the curve. 


Vaughn takes on the high-level role of business administration. His son, Trevor, 34, a 10-year BCP employee, manages dispatch, one of the most critical aspects of the business. Trevor, who earned a Bachelor of Economics at the University of Utah, expressed optimism regarding the firm’s future.



“It’s a tough industry. I remember dad coming home with dirty concrete boots—he was always working a lot of hours,” said Trevor. “I’ve always been impressed with the way they ran the business. I’ve seen where it has been and where it is now and am proud of the growth. I want to help continue that.”

Business Brisk; Generational Transition

As Dave and Vaughn hit their early 60s, they decided to bring another family member aboard as part of the transition to the next generation of BCP leaders, adding Jon Burbidge (a second cousin raised in Washington), 43, to the staff in September 2017 as a Vice President. Jon earned a Bachelor of Construction Management from Brigham Young University and gained valuable experience in the local market with stints at Salt Lake-based Jacobsen Construction (seven years) and Okland Construction (over six years), primarily in preconstruction. He also played on the BYU football team from 2000–2004 and attributes his athletic career to his leadership abilities and success in many aspects of life.   


Jon has blended seamlessly into the mix with his low-key demeanor and ability to multi-task, keeping tabs on a variety of things within the business. 


“We find ourselves wearing multiple hats and collaborating in that regard,” said Jon. “I love […] business development, talking to customers, getting in the trenches with the supers, figuring out specs needed to mount a boom on a climbing form system. That’s where I can really be in my element, because that’s what I did before—it’s what I’m used to.”


Like his older cousins, Jon came from a family of hard workers and entrepreneurs and learned the value of hard work from his father, Norwin, who worked in construction in Washington. Jon also comes from business royalty of sorts, as his maternal grandfather, F. Nephi Grigg, was the founder of frozen food giant Ore-Ida Foods and is credited with inventing the tater tot in 1953. 


Since Dave became President and Jon joined the firm, Burbidge Concrete Pumping has enjoyed its most productive—and profitable—stretch of business, with no intention of slowing down. Dave sets the tone with his genuine enjoyment of the business and good-natured demeanor. He’s quick with a story or two, including tales of running track at South High (1971–1972 state champion at 220 yards) and Brigham Young University. 


“I like challenges and new innovations,” said Dave. “Just today was one of the most unbelievable pours we’ve done in years at the Union Pacific building. Concrete pumping has been the most impressionable advancement in the construction industry.” 


The firm operates a strong employee base of 80–85 full-time employees and a fleet of 80-plus pumping trucks with varying boom lengths, including a new monster 65-meter boom, among the biggest in the state. 


BCP continues to pump its share of large, high-profile projects, including the iconic Salt Lake Temple Restoration and the 39-story Astra Tower, an all-concrete building that requires BCP to set up and operate a mammoth boom running up the center of the structure. Jon estimates the firm has pumped over 20 million CY of concrete in its history, an unfathomable amount of mud. 


Among its largest pours include an 8,000-yard consecutive pour in 2008 on City Creek Mall and the Latter-day Saint Conference Center in 1998–1999, which required four full-time pumps at its peak and included approximately 110,000 total CY, according to Dennis. BCP achieved a company record in 2017 with its largest continuous pour on a sugar beet silo project in Idaho that spanned five days. 



“We have a common goal with our legacy,” said Jon. “We provide a great service, and we take care of our employees. There is no confusion where we all stand. We have a transition plan, but if Dave and Vaughn want to stay here forever, that’s just fine with me. They are tremendous mentors.”

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