Program Goals
Design+Build Salt Lake
The Design+Build Salt Lake program at the University of Utah’s School of Architecture began to take shape in 2017 to create a collaborative and immersive experience for the students.
University of Utah School of Architecture students will develop, design and construct affordable, energy efficient and resilient residential buildings from the first sketch to the final construction. The program is invested in supporting and serving the communities of Salt Lake City and along the Wasatch Front. Design+Build Salt Lake teaches students about physical design and construction, at the same time testing research questions about affordability, buildability, and energy efficiency performance.
The program pursues community-engaged activities that allow neighborhood residents to connect with students and the University of Utah on their terms. By partnering with different community partners, real affordable housing needs will be met with an ethos of positive community and municipal reciprocity, while establishing a robust test bed for academic as well as applied research. This research can in turn inform best practices moving forward, with findings expected to be at the forefront of sustainable and affordable construction, thus influencing the construction market along the Wasatch Front and beyond.
Program Background
Based on the successful experience of the School of Architecture’s Design Build Bluff (DBB) program, in which students have been designing and building residential projects in collaboration with the Mexican Water Chapter government and individual members of the Navajo Nation on their remote campus in Bluff, Southern Utah over the past 16 years, Jörg Rügemer, within the SoA, founded and directs this Salt Lake City regional Design+Build program. Design+Build Salt Lake aims to lead the path in experimental, resilient and affordable housing for the urban center of the Intermountain West. With Salt Lake City and the Wasatch Front being among the 10 fastest growing areas in the United States (Forbes 2016), the program wants to face the challenge of rapid urban growth in an environmentally, economically and socially sustainable way. Through a series of possible case study projects, the D+BSL program targets to become a major future contributor to reach the goals of sustainability and resilience within its specific market segment of single-family, affordable, mid-dense housing.