The Front at South Main by Vaughn Yribar Architecture, 2025 Honor Award Winner PUB 6 2025-2026 ISSUE 3 AIA Utah 2025 Architecture Awards
President Clio Rayner, AIA, LEED AP BD-C President-Elect Warren Lloyd, AIA, LEED AP Treasurer Roger Phillips, AIA, CDT, LSSYB, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP Secretary Natalie Shutt-Banks, AIA, NOMA Editor Frances Pruyn, CPSM Staff Executive Director Angie Harris Roberts Managing Director Joe Mangum Reflexion is a publication of the Utah Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. aiautah.org AIA Utah 280 S. 400 W., Ste. 150 Salt Lake City, UT 84101 ©2026 AIA Utah | MBR Connect DBA The newsLINK Group LLC. All rights reserved. Reflexion is published quarterly by The newsLINK Group LLC for AIA Utah and is the official publication for this association. The information contained in this publication is intended to provide general information for review, consideration and education. The contents do not constitute legal advice and should not be relied on as such. If you need legal advice or assistance, it is strongly recommended that you contact an attorney as to your circumstances. The statements and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the AIA Utah, its board of directors or the publisher. Likewise, the appearance of advertisements within this publication does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation of any product or service advertised. Reflexion is a collective work, and as such, some articles are submitted by authors who are independent of the AIA Utah. While AIA Utah encourages a first-print policy, in cases where this is not possible, every effort has been made to comply with any known reprint guidelines or restrictions. Content may not be reproduced or reprinted without prior written permission. For further information, please contact the publisher at (855) 747-4003. Contents 4 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Shaping Our Future 6 MEMBER SPOTLIGHT Madison Merwine, AIA, WELL AP 8 AIA Utah Committees 9 AIA Code of Ethics & Professional Conduct 10 LEGENDS Jeanne Jackson, FAIA, NCARB, LEED AP 18 AIA Utah 2025 Architecture Awards 19 HONOR AWARD — ARCHITECTURE Utah Clean Energy Climate Innovation Center Blalock & Partners 20 HONOR AWARD — ARCHITECTURE Spanish Fork Community Network Blalock & Partners 21 HONOR AWARD — ARCHITECTURE The Front at South Main Vaughn Yribar Architecture 22 HONOR AWARD — SMALL PROJECT Scratch Clubhouse Stereotomic Arch & Design 23 MERIT AWARD — SMALL PROJECT The Cube Sparano + Mooney Architecture 24 AIA Utah 2025 Student Awards 25 STUDENT HONOR AWARD — GRADUATE EXO Vita Lampietti 26 STUDENT HONOR AWARD — GRADUATE Altius Tower Miguel Gonzalez Quintanilla, Abbie Riley and Nathan Blazel 27 STUDENT MERIT AWARD — GRADUATE Drug Rehabilitation Center in Amritsar, India Fatema Udaipurwala 28 STUDENT MERIT AWARD — GRADUATE Re-Framing Land Tenure in Rural Britain Jack Burton 30 IN MEMORIAM Stephen Martin Ehninger 1948-2025 31 IN MEMORIAM Tony Tsunehisa Yamada 1940-2025 32 AIA Utah Fellows 1889-2026 33 Thank You 2025 Sponsors 34 Follow Us on Social Media 3
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Shaping Our Future BY CLIO RAYNER PRESIDENT, AIA UTAH REFLEXION 4
Over the past year, AIA Utah has been working hard to reach out to our members and meet you where you are. This year, we want to continue this outreach to better understand how our organization can continue to evolve in ways that expand benefits and involvement. 2025 was a successful year, resulting in expanded program opportunities and a realignment of the AIA Utah structure to increase support and impact. This year, we hope to continue that work with a focus on participation, representation and partnership. Participation AIA Utah is a volunteer organization, and the more participation we have from our members, the better we become. Our amazing staff works tirelessly to actualize the vision of our board and committees — the vision our volunteer members provide. The first step to answering, “What can AIA Utah do for me?” is to add your voice to the discussion. I encourage all our members to be part of the conversation by joining our committees and reaching out to other members and staff to explore opportunities to connect and create. Representation We want our members to see themselves in AIA Utah. Utah is a large and diverse state, and we’re tasked with representing different regions, organization types and career paths within a single organization. We want to reinvigorate participation and activity across all regions, find new ways to support small firms and sole practitioners alongside larger firms, and add more voices with varied backgrounds and career pathways. To do this well, we need to understand the challenges our members face. This comes back to participation: If you want to see yourself in AIA Utah, become a part of it. Representation starts with one. Partnership In Utah, we are lucky to have multiple organizations that support and promote our profession. These organizations provide our professional community with many opportunities to participate. We want to share that success by supporting other organizations and promoting partnerships. AIA Utah should be a connection point that brings together the goals across our profession and creates a resource that serves our members by offering multiple opportunities to serve others. Becoming actively engaged in our organization is one of the best ways to increase your impact. Consider joining one of the many AIA Utah committees and task forces featured here. You can learn more about these groups and find contact information on our website at aiautah.org/page/committees. Join Us! Make an impact by adding your voice to an AIA Utah committee or task force: BEC/COTE Equity by Design (EQxD) Government Affairs (GAC) Honors & Awards Housing Task Force Industry Partner Sponsorships Small Firm Exchange (SFx) Urban Design Young Architects Forum (YAF) Central Section Committee Northern Section Committee Southern Section Committee 5
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT Madison Merwine, AIA, WELL AP Time is valuable; why AIA? As an emerging professional, I have found that participation in AIA has been invaluable to my personal and professional growth. While attending the University of Oregon, I was very active in the school’s AIAS chapter and found it to be an outlet for my passion for helping others. Architecture school is hard, and whatever you can do to remove unnecessary barriers and lift up your classmates makes it just the tiniest bit easier. I am also passionate about the local community, and was appointed as director of Freedom by Design, the design-build community service arm of AIAS. I loved working with community organizations and campus leaders to design and build projects that addressed physical, socio-economic, cultural and accessibility barriers. After graduating, I sought a way to continue this work, and AIA provided that opportunity. Through my AIAS network, I learned of an opening on the AIA National Associates Committee as the Utah State/Territory Associate Representative (STAR), a role that helped me bridge the gap between academia and licensure. Serving alongside 54 fellow STARs, I found a strong national community and became deeply engaged with the AIA Utah chapter, where I was eager to elevate the voices of emerging professionals and advocate on their behalf. The encouragement and support of my AIA peers were instrumental in my pursuit of licensure, culminating in the completion of the ARE and my licensure last June. Now, as a licensed architect and director of AIA Utah Emerging Professionals, I remain deeply committed to sharing knowledge, expanding access to resources and reducing unnecessary barriers to licensure. According to NCARB, only 27% of architects are women, and only 20% of architects identify as a person of color, with only 1% of architects being black women. These disparities are why I continue to choose AIA and invest my time in service to the profession. Through advocacy, mentorship and community-building, AIA provides a platform to shape a more equitable profession and, in turn, a more inclusive built environment. Favorite Utah space, built or natural: Run-A-Muk Off-Leash Dog Area in Park City! It is a beautiful 43-acre dog park with over three miles of trails, and my corgi loves to run across the wide-open space like a graceful water buffalo on the plains. Favorite book: “The Bell Jar” by Sylvia Plath is a novel I often return to, and it has had a huge influence on how I view the relationship between my womanhood, my career and my mental health. My favorite passage is: “I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn’t quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn’t make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.” Mantra: In college, we had an assignment to write a personal manifesto, which I still carry with me. It’s inspired by the 1991 Riot Grrrl manifesto, a seminal text for punk-rock girls. It goes: “BECAUSE design shapes lives, we strive for spaces reflecting all. BECAUSE we wield the power to redefine spaces as stages for inclusivity BECAUSE I believe with my wholeheartmindbody in an environment that empowers the marginalized.” 6 REFLEXION
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BEC/COTE Provides building envelope education that is relevant to Utah Built Environment practitioners. Also works to advance and advocate for design practices that integrate built and natural systems and enhance both the design quality and environmental performance of the built environment. Board Liaison: Matt Snow, msnow@trdp.com Central Section Committee Provides unique engagement opportunities for members who live and/or work in the Provo/Orem area and the Wasatch Back. Board Liaison: Chris Thompson, christophert@corearch.com Equity by Design (EQxD) Educates the design community on the importance of equitable practices and the value of diverse individuals in order to foster inclusive and equitable environments while providing members with opportunities to socialize and discuss current issues. Board Liaison: Julia Oderda, joderda@vcbo.com Government Affairs Committee (GAC) Monitors legislation affecting the architecture profession and advocates for members and the health, safety and welfare of our communities. Board Liaison: Shawn Benjamin, shawn@method-studio.com Honors & Awards Identifies and celebrates exceptional achievements in the field of architecture by recognizing individuals from Utah and projects that demonstrate outstanding design, innovation and positive impact on the built environment. Board Liaison: Daniel Rogers, daniel.rogers@mhtn.com Membership Supports the value of AIA membership through engagement events and recruitment efforts. Board Liaison: Whitney Ward, wward@vcbo.com Northern Section Committee Provides unique engagement opportunities for members who live and/or work in the Ogden/Logan area. Board Liaison: Jeremy Larsen, jl@adapt-ag.com Small Firm Exchange (SFx) Advances the mutual interests of architects practicing in small firms. Board Liaison: Jarod Hall, j@divelept.com Southern Section Committee Provides unique engagement opportunities for members who live and/or work in the St. George area. Board Liaison: Audra Herriges, aherriges@nwlarchitects.com Sponsorship Connects AIA Utah with professionals in allied industries who share an interest in the built environment and AIA Utah programming. Board Liaison: Lori Haglund, lhaglund@resolutgroup.com Urban Design Aims to improve the quality of the urban environment by promoting excellence in design, planning and public policy in the built environment. Board Liaison: Soren Simonsen, soren@jordanrivercommission.gov Young Architects Forum (YAF) Consists of architect members licensed for 10 years or less. Identifies issues of particular importance to this group and organizes engagement events. Board Liaison: Madison Merwine, mmerwine@hksinc.com AIA Utah Committees AIA Utah has many different committees working to serve our members and promote the architecture profession. All members are invited to participate. If you would like more information about a particular committee, please contact the board liaison or Angie Harris Roberts, executive director, at ahroberts@aiautah.org. 8 REFLEXION
AIA Code of Ethics & Professional Conduct The AIA Code of Ethics & Professional Conduct applies to the professional activities of all AIA members and covers general obligations as well as obligations to the public, clients, colleagues, the profession and the environment. The litmus test for AIA Utah’s programming and initiatives is its MISSION: AIA Utah helps (Utah) architects be better architects. That mission is driven by its VISION: AIA Utah promotes the profession (of architecture) by educating, advocating for and engaging with its members, and is borne out by the chapter’s values. • Design Excellence: Actively seeking design excellence through education and celebration. • Stewardship: Representing the health, safety and welfare of people and our natural surroundings. • Integrity: Maintaining honesty (professional ethics) in professional practice. • Inclusivity: Providing a platform for professional and interpersonal collaboration and creating space for all voices to be heard. • Engagement: Actively building and managing relationships with the membership to establish value and increase membership retention. Ethics and Integrity Are Essential to Our Work AIA members are dedicated to the highest standards of professionalism, integrity and competence. The AIA Code of Ethics & Professional Conduct guides members’ conduct in fulfilling those obligations and is available to read by scanning the first QR code to the right. The Code of Ethics applies to the professional activities of all AIA members, regardless of their membership category. National Ethics Council AIA architect members are appointed to the National Ethics Council (NEC) by the AIA Board of Directors. The AIA Bylaws delegate to the NEC the authority to interpret and enforce the AIA Code of Ethics & Professional Conduct. Complaints submitted to the NEC are handled according to the NEC’s Rules of Procedure. NEC decisions that result in a code violation and discipline may be appealed to AIA’s board of directors. In cases where termination is the recommended penalty, decisions are automatically appealed to the board of directors. Filing a Complaint A complaint may be filed with the NEC by an AIA member, chapter or anyone directly aggrieved by the conduct of an AIA member. The NEC has the primary authority to determine whether a violation of the Code of Ethics has occurred and, if so, what penalty (including potential termination of membership) should be imposed. In doing so, it follows the process stated in the Rules of Procedure, which are designed to protect the rights of both the complaining party and the member who is the subject of the complaint. If the NEC finds that a violation has occurred, its decision may be appealed to the AIA’s board of directors. The NEC does not independently investigate or prosecute cases against AIA members. It is the sole responsibility of the complainant and respondent to submit evidence, call upon and produce witnesses, and present their respective cases. The NEC’s deliberations and decisions are based solely on what the complainant and respondent present and submit as part of the case record. Please note: Ethics complaint filings cannot be filed anonymously. The complainant’s identity and all submissions will be forwarded to the respondent in order for the respondent to submit a response. The AIA Code of Ethics & Professional Conduct https://www.aia.org/code-ethics-professional-conduct The AIA Bylaws https://www.aia.org/sites/default/files/2024-03/ aia-bylaws-june-2024-v2.pdf NEC’s Rules of Procedure https://www.aia.org/rules-procedure 9
LEGENDS As part of our ongoing series of interviews with architectural legends, we are proud to present this interview with Jeanne Jackson, FAIA, NCARB, LEED AP. Over the course of her remarkable career, she has led the design of diverse projects, including multiple award-winning schools, among them a recipient of the James D. MacConnell Award from the Association for Learning Environments (A4LE). It was a pleasure to interview her and to learn more about her journey as an architect and all the contributions she has made to the industry. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Jeanne Jackson, FAIA, NCARB, LEED AP 10 REFLEXION
When did you decide to become an architect? I was a senior in high school. The only architect I knew as a kid was Bob Brady from The Brady Bunch. I didn’t really know what architects did, but, looking back, from the time I was little, I was redesigning every room I was in in my head. Originally, I thought of doing interior design, but then I was exposed to the School of Architecture at the University of Utah. I thought, “Why wouldn’t I want to design the whole thing?” Tell us about that educational experience. I went to the University of Utah after 12 years of catholic school. I had an “Honors at Entrance” scholarship to the U. My parents thought that it was nice for me to go for free. Of course, everybody wants to go away to school, but my option was to go to the U. In those days, there was no four plus two program; you had to get a Master of Architecture, and it was a three-year master’s program. I spent seven years and got both my degrees there. Then, in 1990, I graduated from school during the worst recession we had seen in many years. There were no jobs. I asked many of the architects that I had come in contact with during my education if I could interview with them. Several were very nice; they were not hiring, but said I could come in for an interview. Meanwhile, I looked at the help-wanted ads in the newspaper. About two or three weeks after I graduated, there was an ad for an architect (which I wasn’t, of course). I applied and got an interview. It was Valentiner Architects, and they had never hired an intern before, so they weren’t sure if that was a good idea. There were 23 people there at the time. After about three weeks, I got an offer. I went there and they have treated me very well throughout my career. Niels Valentiner, the founder of the company, was completely interested in hiring anybody who was good. He didn’t care if they were an immigrant or a woman. I never had to ask for a promotion or a raise or anything. Within about 10 years, I was asked to be a partner. Once you’re asked to be a partner, you’re there, and I’ve been there 35 years. What was your focus? It’s really interesting to think back about what my focus might have been. I had worked for Brixen and Christopher one summer and as a structural engineer the summer before. I guess I didn’t really know. In school, you do a variety of design projects. I got to Valentiner, and they didn’t have a lot of work either. One of my first assignments was to make a plastic model of One Utah Center. I hated making models, but I did it. Then I worked with whoever had a job at the firm. I worked on the Jordan School District and the Alpine School District prototypes. I worked on Northridge High School as a first-year drafter. Now we have employees who went there, which is hilarious. I worked on the Murray Ice Sheet, which is now called County Ice Center. I worked on the West Valley City Recreation Center. I worked on whatever there was, but I always loved schools and got along very well with the two partners in the office who did schools: Boyd McAllister, AIA, and Steve Crane, FAIA. They gave me a lot of opportunities. I also love libraries because I’ve always loved to read books, so I worked on the Salt Lake City Public Library, which was a life-changing experience. I got to know Moshe Safdie, FAIA. He’s an amazing human, a wonderful teacher and a wonderful architect. By the time I finished that project, I was never afraid to detail anything, which is fun because, in school, they don’t teach you how to detail. What did you learn in school? Architectural history. That was my favorite class — the thing I did the best in. It was the first time I had a history class that was worth anything. It’s super ironic that I ended up designing schools because I literally hated school. I hated every minute of school from first grade through my master’s. It was super boring. My mother taught me to take a book and put it on my lap under the desk and read because I was so bored. I did like geometry. That, I guess, is a telling sign. I liked English a lot. I originally thought that I might get an English degree, and then I thought, “I don’t know what to do with that.” Uintah School District Central Cove Early Learning Center 11
Where did you learn to draft? I didn’t really. I just did my best in architecture school. No one taught us anything about drafting. Had you moved into AutoCAD at that point? No. At the U, there was a computer room, and you could go down and enter coordinates. I made a wireframe model of my thesis project, which was a housing project, so that I could overlay it and draw the building in 3D. After about eight months at Valentiner, I started working on the computer there. They were pretty early adopters. It wasn’t AutoCAD; it was a digitizer pad with a little pen. I was the queen of that; I was so fast at it. And then we got AutoCAD, which was a little adjustment. I became the queen of that, even to the point that, as a partner, I was still designing in AutoCAD because I knew that software. Then we switched to Revit. I was totally in favor of it but didn’t work in it enough to really be able to learn to use Revit effectively. I think it’s an incredible tool. Talk about some of the projects that taught you about architecture. The client relationship part of a job is the best part. I love finding out what they need, but I also feel like I’ve educated myself about the process of K-12 education. It’s part of my job to open the minds of teachers. I don’t want to just hear how they teach or how their classroom could be better. I want to talk about how you imagine teaching in your wildest dreams: “What if you had no parameters?” How can we make the building facilitate that kind of teaching paradigm? All of the schools used to be — and many in this country still are — what we call “cells and bells”: a hallway with classroom, classroom, classroom, classroom. The kids go into those classrooms and get education shoved into their little heads. That isn’t the best way to learn because the best way is different for everyone. Fortunately, many of the schools of education are starting to teach teachers that small group work, collaboration, The City Library Yuma Main Library 12 REFLEXION
individual work and a variety of different scenarios and places, still including direct instruction, is a better way for kids to learn. Students get excited about it. They can learn from each other, teach each other. Once you can teach someone else, that means you’ve mastered it. We design an environment where there are student collaborative areas outside the classrooms. The key to that is having glass or an opening so the teacher can monitor them. Some kids are working in the classroom, some are working in collaboration, and some are being tutored by either an adult or their peers. One of the most wonderful things in my career is that I go to my schools and see young people who love school, unlike my experience. One of the best things that my mentors did was invite me to join them in some of the groups, like the AIA Committee on Architecture for Education. We would go to one or two conferences a year. You’d see what everyone else is doing across the country, and sometimes you learn you don’t want to do that. And sometimes, you think “That’s really working. We could do that. And how can we make it even better?” We realized, “Yeah, we’re doing everything pretty good, but we need collaboration.” We added that, and then we thought, “But the furniture is just no good.” At Davis School District, which is a good steward of children’s education, we did an experiment. We took everybody’s temperature, asking, “How do you like what you’re using? How does it limit you?” Then they got test classroom furniture. After using the furniture for a month, they got the same questions. It drastically changed the way furniture was being purchased in that district. In 2006, I went to a presentation by Ed Mazria, FAIA. He challenged us by saying that the only people who are going to save us from climate change are architects. I went back to my partners and shared some of this, and I said, “How about we stop asking our clients about the things that are a no-brainer?” People would ask their clients, “Do you want us to specify low VOC paint?” I said, “Let’s stop doing that kind of thing. Just specify low VOC paint. They don’t care, but it makes a difference.” So, VCBO started to be more sustainable. How did you negotiate the budget to accommodate sustainability? There is a first cost versus a lifecycle cost that you have to look at. If you think about it, who builds a building that they own forever? School districts, universities and the government. If anybody should know how to save money by making the right decisions, it’s those people. In Utah, all the school districts have a good understanding of how to invest the right amount of money. They’re actually getting a very good value for what they spend. I designed the only two buildings in Utah that are Department of Energy-certified net zero. They’re both schools. Our client went to the same conferences we went to in the Pacific Northwest. We saw that the people there are very good at sustainability. Davis School District said, “I think we should do that. That’s our goal with our next prototype.” Around 2009, we were hired to do their new prototype. We changed the original elementary prototype that we first did in 1997. We did a lot of research. What we learned is, weirdly, it doesn’t have to cost more. It is the choices that you make. If you want brick and net zero, you probably can’t have it. If you don’t mind using CMU, that’s a way to save some money to put toward the rest of the building. To create a building like that, you have to improve the envelope. We started doing spray foam insulation. I asked my consultants, “How can we do this better?” We couldn’t build it the way we used to build it. We started the building with CMU as we always had, and then held the metal Davis School District Odyssey Elementary School Alta High School Renovation and new Performing Arts Center 13
studs off a couple of inches and used spray foam insulation, so there was no thermal bridging. Then we looked at a lot of different little things we could do. LED lighting had just come in. So, you do all LED lighting. You look at daylight harvesting, so when you have a sunny day, you can have the lights off or lower the brightness. One of the most important keys to our first net-zero building was the geothermal wellfield. The ground was suitable. Its direct/indirect cooling was basically free, and there was PV on the roof. We had a goal of an EUI of 20 on the first building, Odyssey Elementary. During the first year of operation, we had a measured EUI of 17.3, which is astonishing. The school district hadn’t bought into the PV, so it didn’t have PV on the roof. We met with the school board, and showed them the stats and said, “In about 14 years, you will have paid for those PV panels because you’re saving that much energy. And that’s assuming energy costs don’t go up, which they will.” The school board members looked at each other and said, “Why wouldn’t we do that?” It was expensive in 2013: $750,000. We still figured it would pay for itself that soon. Odyssey is also LEED Gold certified. We just opened a school prototype last year, and we have one finishing for a school opening in August. The PV for that roof is like $250,000. It’s gone down drastically. People have asked our client, Brian Turner, FAIA, “How long does it take to pay back?” He said, “I figure it’s the first day because our electric bills go down and we would have been paying them. What does it matter for the next hundred years? We’re not going to have electrical bills.” What changes have you experienced in the industry, particularly as a woman? It wasn’t always easy, but I guess I never thought too much about being a woman in this industry, even though there weren’t very many women. That was probably based on my parents’ support. My dad was an electrical engineer, and he’d always say, “You know, Jeanne, you can be anything you want to be.” And I said, “Yeah, I know that, Dad.” It took me years to figure out why he told me that. When I told him I was going to be an architect, he said, “Don’t you think you’re too smart for that?” I still laugh about that. I was very fortunate because I got out of school at age 24. I got my license before I was 27. I was very hung up on being able to say I’m an architect. It was very big for me. As soon as I was licensed, my mentors would take me to meet the principal and say, “This is Jeanne Jackson, she’ll be your architect.” Once, a client said, “Are you a real architect?” I said, “Yes, I’m a licensed architect.” I know I looked very young. I had superintendents on my jobs who were mostly respectful, amazingly. Many times, my mentors would come with me, but sometimes they didn’t. Once at a job site after my weekly meeting, I had to use the restroom. I said, “Hey, before I walk around the site, is there a restroom I can use?” This is how naive I was. He goes, “Yes, get in your car. Drive down the street about half a mile, and there’s a Taco Bell.” He didn’t want me to see the scary portable restrooms with all the graffiti. The job site was so different in the olden days; you would go in there, and there’d be girlie calendars. Now you go into the job site trailer, and they’re talking about their kids. The whole industry, I think, has gotten more the way it ought to be — it ought to be about building a great building. You said it wasn’t always easy. The first few years were hard. I didn’t know enough. I’d be sitting there trying to figure out how to do a door detail — we had a binder of standard details. I would finish, and because the partner I was working with might not be there, I’d be thinking, “Now I’m not sure what to do.” Frankly, when you’re right out of school, it’s a little bit of a mystery. Also, Salt Lake City School District Nibley Park Elementary School
I just didn’t know that much about construction, to be honest. I went to a college prep school, so there were no drafting or construction classes. I learned how to do a lot of stuff from my dad. He was a do-it-yourselfer, but it wasn’t like building a house. Today, it’s a lot different. The U has some good hands-on classes where you can go do some construction. Also, we take junior staff to a job site and point out stuff to them. I think it’s a different world. It’s an investment. You take that young person to the job site, introduce them to your client and, pretty soon, they’re creating a relationship. It’s a plan to grow people, to help them advance. Everybody is not going to be a partner, but maybe everybody doesn’t want to be. Everybody should be able to fulfill their dreams. I’ve tried to mentor women, specifically, but I don’t stick to that. I’m happy to mentor any young people on my team. Actually, six of my partners started their professional life on my team. Talk to me about your long history of working in professional organizations. I was working my butt off designing schools and seeing them through construction. One day, I thought, “I love this, but I think there’s more.” Right then, AIA Utah was having elections, and I decided I was going to run for treasurer. I did. And I won. So, I was the treasurer of AIA Utah and started to meet people. They were looking for someone to serve on the Utah Licensing Board. I submitted my application, got picked and served two four-year terms. I was a chair for most of those years. So, in 2006, I got involved with the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB). Immediately, I became part of leadership. Over 15 years, I was involved in several committees and chaired a number of them. I led the Western Mountain Region for NCARB. I loved working with NCARB because we advanced our profession. For example, I was on the committee that eliminated volunteer work as part of the IDP (now AXP). I also spent four years with a group rewriting the national model licensing law, which is a model for all jurisdictions on how architectural licensing works. I was also involved with the AIA Committee on Architecture for Education. I started to go to their conferences, met all the people there and was asked to join the advisory committee. It is a path: You are added to the committee, and six years later, you’re the chair. I think we did a lot of good; I have lifelong friends all over the country from that experience. It takes an enormous amount of time to invest in professional organizations. How do you offset that with your billable hours? It is a lot of time. I have always worked a lot of hours, but I didn’t have children, so I had extra time to spend on the nights and weekends. I was also supported by my partners to do that kind of volunteer work. I always got my work done, but I got to do all of this other stuff that expanded my knowledge of the profession. I started doing presentations nationally, talking about what we’ve done with schools. One of my partners said, “Why do you give away all our secrets?” I said, “I wouldn’t do it if I thought that I could design every school in this country, but I can’t, and we’re not going to get all those jobs. And if we did, we probably couldn’t do them. But it doesn’t mean that all the kids don’t deserve to have a better learning environment. I want to share that knowledge so that children can learn more effectively.” You also learn how people run their businesses, which is really good for your office, and I’ve shared information. We’ve had a succession plan that Niels Valentiner put into effect before I became a partner. Most long-lived firms in the olden days were father to son to grandson or daughter or whatever. But the ones that were not like that tended not to survive their founders. Our firm has been in business for over 50 years now, and it’s due to our succession planning. When I meet colleagues, I always ask, “How many partners do you have?” I asked a friend in Maine. He said, “I don’t have partners.” I said, “Are you insane? What’s going to happen when you die or when you want to retire?” He said, “I don’t know. I mean, Davis School District Farmington High School Davis School District Farmington High School 15
I really don’t know.” Next time I saw him, he had developed a succession plan. During the recession around 2010, I met a colleague at the conference, and we were chatting about that: Me: “I’m a little worried.” Him: “How many people do you have?” Me: “We have like 80 or 85 people.” Him: “And do you have enough work?” Me: “I don’t know; we maybe don’t.” Him: “You don’t have to do what I suggest. But if I were you, I would go home, and I would say, ‘We probably need to do a layoff now before we get underwater.’” That’s kind of a weirdly negative example, but it saved our company. We had to lay off 16 people, but everybody else still had a job. You learn all kinds of things from people through involvement in professional organizations. And the other thing you really learn is you don’t have to hate your competitors. People in Utah tend to have an attitude of, “I don’t like that firm.” Why? I’m likely to say, “Hey, how’s it going? I’m really glad you got that job if I couldn’t get it.” Talk about the AIA. The AIA has always been really important to me. I never doubted that I would become a member as soon as I was eligible. I don’t think we had a student chapter, and I didn’t know about the associate members, so I joined in 1993 after getting my license. I became treasurer. Then later in 2015, I became the Utah president. That was a big honor. But one of the top 10 days of my life was the day I was advanced to fellowship. What’s so meaningful is that it gives you opportunities. We’re all doing all the good we can in our communities, in our world. But fellowship gives us added credibility. People will say, “She’s a fellow in the AIA, so clearly, she’s done something to advance our profession.” Davis School District Catalyst Center Davis School District Horizon Jr. High School Davis School District Shoreline Jr. High School 16 REFLEXION
I was really fortunate; I was elevated on my first try. I was immediately asked to be a state representative for the region, and then I was asked to become the regional representative for the Western Mountain Region. Then I was asked to become chair of the regional representatives, which is a group of 39 people across the country. The idea is that you are there to support the missions of the college, which are to encourage mentorship and to support research that will help architects do better work. We award the Latrobe Prize, which is a biennial $150,000 award to support a two-year program of research leading to significant advances in the architecture profession. Our latest Latrobe winners are studying smog-eating building panels. I was interested in supporting the missions of the college. I submitted to become a member of the executive committee of the college and was chosen to be the bursar (which is a fancy word for treasurer) for two years. I’m currently the vice chancellor, and in December, I’ll be inaugurated as the sixth woman to be chancellor of the college. You have a fabulous career. Are there any regrets? I do think about regrets. One is that I’ve never lived anywhere but Utah. I felt really bad that I couldn’t go away to school, but I got out with no student debt. Then I joined this firm, which has always treated me well; I had no reason to go elsewhere. I travel a lot, but I feel I’ve never had the opportunity to have a different experience. I mentioned this to one of my work colleagues. He said, “The advantage in only working for one firm for all these years is you were here long enough to make changes to help improve it for the better.” I value that insight. Advice for younger architects? Being an architect isn’t just going to work. The people who do well are the people with a real passion for it. One thing that bothers me about Utah is that a lot of people just want to go home after work. I want to go home after work, too, but it’s great to get together with others. I love the new chapter of NOMA. I’m a devoted member and an ambassador for Women in Architecture in Utah. I would say, even in school, get involved in more outside of the studio or firm and educate yourself. I do have a real passion for school design, but I didn’t set out to have a passion for school design. It was a passion that grew from knowing we are making all these children’s lives so much better. The schools I’ve worked on have maybe been open for 30 years. How many kids go through a school in 30 years? And I think the schools will easily last 90 years. How many lives will I have touched? It’s an awesome responsibility, but it’s exciting too. Canyons School District Union Middle School 17
AIA Utah 2025 Architecture Awards Spanish Fork Community Network by Blalock & Partners, 2025 Honor Award Winner REFLEXION 18
THE UTAH CLEAN ENERGY CLIMATE INNOVATION CENTER PROJECT IS AN ADAPTIVE REUSE of a 3,000-square-foot, single‑story structure, originally comprised of unreinforced CMU block walls and a steel truss frame. Located in downtown Salt Lake City, the urban infill site would typically be slated for demolition, but was instead reused and transformed into an example of a climate-wise, energy‑efficient design. Since 2001, Utah Clean Energy has promoted clean energy and sustainable building practices, aiming to educate the public and influence policymakers to enact change. The Climate Innovation Center was initially conceived as a living laboratory that demonstrates methodologies for achieving net-zero energy use and the benefits of adaptive reuse. In addition to providing the headquarters with administrative spaces for Utah Clean Energy’s staffing and operations, the facility is also an asset to the community, serving as a teaching tool and a space open to the public to engage with to help inform current and future building projects. In parallel with the project’s sustainability goals, the Climate Innovation Center prioritizes a contextually sensitive design solution, providing a dynamic new façade that engages the street frontage and creates a dialogue between old and new. HONOR AWARD — ARCHITECTURE Utah Clean Energy Climate Innovation Center Blalock & Partners Location Salt Lake City, Utah Owner Utah Clean Energy Engineers Structural BHB Structural Engineers Electrical BNA Consulting (Resolut) Mechanical VBFA (Resolut) Civil Forsgren Associates Landscape Architecture G. Brown Design Inc. Building Systems Commissioning Bernhard Building Envelope Commissioning Morrison Herschfield General Contracting Okland Construction 19
SPANISH FORK COMMUNITY NETWORK (SFCN) SERVES AS THE OFFICE AND OPERATIONAL HEADQUARTERS for the city’s cable and data network services for citizens and city staff. In its simplest form, the facility is one part office administration area, and one part vehicle and parts storage for installation crews. Within the office area, private offices and open workspaces are provided for city staff, while a public showroom and shared multi-purpose space are open to the public. The design for SFCN took initial inspiration from local vernacular buildings that once dominated Spanish Fork’s agricultural community. Conceived as a composition of simple shed-roof forms, the project melds a utilitarian vehicle storage building with a civic administration space that provides an invaluable community asset and service to the public. The vehicle storage wing of the facility utilizes a pre-engineered metal building (PEMB) solution, grounded in an ethic of economy, while elevating the design beyond a typical pre-engineered solution to suit the site and the needs of a civic building. The administration space draws on PEMB’s efficiency, using a highly efficient insulated metal panel skin and a building footprint designed around ideal structural spans that maximize resources and daylighting to the interior. The design integrates the functional needs of the department’s operations while simultaneously representing the department and its service to the community. The elegant solution is two-fold, combining operational spaces for fieldwork with a front-of-house administration and public interface. The design reflects the nature of its program, HONOR AWARD — ARCHITECTURE Spanish Fork Community Network Blalock & Partners using an L-shaped configuration to provide ideal circulation for line workers and fleet vehicles. The longer administration wing is oriented east to west to maximize daylight, provide clear separation between public and private spaces, and create a unified civic frontage along Center Street. The project seeks to maximize value, demonstrating a strong ethic of economy in its design, while elevating simple materials and construction types to create a civic solution that will endure the test of time. Location Spanish Fork, Utah Owner Spanish Fork Community Network Engineers Structural BHB Structural Engineers Mechanical VBFA (Resolut) Electrical EELD Civil Jones & DeMille Engineering Landscape Design G. Brown Design Inc. General Contractor Hogan Construction 20 REFLEXION
HONOR AWARD — ARCHITECTURE The Front at South Main Vaughn Yribar Architecture THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE FRONT AT SOUTH MAIN IS DEFINED BY A RIGOROUS STEEL STRUCTURE shrouded in a thin shell. The climbing walls rise through the three-story central opening of the building, acting as free-standing sculptural objects in the center of the space. They are surrounded by multiple levels of open walkways that look out onto the floors below while simultaneously framing expansive views of the Wasatch and Oquirrh mountains. This open-concept design allows for the free flow of movement and sight lines between levels, offering an opportunity to shift perspective and experience the verticality of space. The large glass windows and doors engage the active urban environment beyond the space, creating a dialogue between the outdoor pedestrian and indoor activity. The project is designed with a rigorous structural system that optimizes the use of structural steel, metal cladding and other materials. The upper floors are suspended from the roof structure with steel rods, creating a sense of flotation and further minimizing the need for footings, foundations and columns. The use of materials is both industrial and refined. The exposed steel structure is pulled in from the exterior walls, allowing for a little light to occupy the space between. Corrugated metal panel cladding is varied and subtly textile-like. The guardrail is a minimal, perforated, bent-metal panel pinned to a post, allowing visibility and a thin (but robust) perimeter. The bright, white space is warmed by wood climbing walls, sculptural furniture installations, and other wood accents on floors and ceilings. The intention was to use common materials in a reimagined, artful way. Sprinkled atop an otherwise restrained palette, playfulness abounds with candy-colored climbing holds, bright furniture, and humans who bring life and movement. Location Millcreek, Utah Owner The Front Climbing Club Engineers Civil McNeil Engineering Structural Ingenium Design Mechanical Ingenium Design Electrical Uplight Electrical Engineering Inc. Fire The Fire Consultants Inc. Climbing Wall Design and Construction Vertical Solutions Landscape Architect Voda Landscape + Planning General Contractor Menlove Construction 21
HONOR AWARD — SMALL PROJECT Scratch Clubhouse Stereotomic Arch & Design NESTLED AT THE FOOT OF THE WASATCH MOUNTAINS, THE SCRATCH MINI GOLF PAVILION IS A COMPACT, CONTEXTUALLY SENSITIVE STRUCTURE designed to support and revive a family‑oriented entertainment venue. The pavilion serves as both a social anchor and an operational hub for the surrounding miniature golf course, blending industrial utility with regional material warmth in a landscape that celebrates recreation, openness and community. The design responds to three primary conditions: the landscape, programmatic flexibility and economic modesty. The dramatic mountain backdrop informed the structure’s horizontality, low profile and clear roof form — a respectful contrast that keeps views open and expansive. The pavilion needed to be compact, yet adaptable enough to serve as a check-in station, snack bar, shade structure and gathering place. The design prioritized cost efficiency through a modular strategy that used repurposed shipping containers and prefabricated components. The two steel shipping containers flank a central breezeway, unified by a cantilevered steel-and-perforated-metal roof. The canopy hovers lightly over the solid massing below, providing dappled light and shade that mitigates heat while reinforcing the project’s public presence. The matte-black shipping containers are punctuated by large service windows, clerestory glazing and horizontal wood insets that soften the industrial palette. A butterfly-shaped roof with a translucent, corrugated-metal underside creates a gathering gesture, drawing visitors inward and establishing a natural central axis. The slope also provides passive drainage and visual lift. The surrounding space features six custom-built tables with steel frames and wood planks, mirroring the architectural material language and extending the social program into the landscape. Location Orem, Utah Owner Cascade Seddie Engineers Civil Jackson Engineering Electrical HK Electrical Design Structural Sheeran Consulting MEP Jackson Engineering Specialized Fabricators ERDA Industrial Concepts General Contractor Jerry Anderson Construction Photography Melissa Kelsey Photography 22 REFLEXION
MERIT AWARD — SMALL PROJECT The Cube Sparano + Mooney Architecture THE 1,993-SQUARE-FOOT ADDITION TO AN EXISTING HOME ORIGINALLY DESIGNED IN 1968 BY RENOWNED ARCHITECT JIM CHRISTOPHER was crafted to expand and provide functional, beautiful outdoor and indoor living spaces for its residents. A new pool, pool deck, outdoor kitchen, outdoor showers and an elevated patio offering shimmering views of Salt Lake City have refined a once-uninviting backyard. The addition provides additional interior living space adjacent to both the existing residence and the new pool, as well as studios where the residents can paint and create textile art. The homeowners are very proud to live in their iconic mid-century dwelling and wanted to ensure the new addition was sensitively integrated into its context and landscape. The project is unique for integrating formal geometry into the site, transforming the existing mid-century modern house with new living spaces that flow seamlessly from the original structure. The new addition is largely concealed from the street and connects to the original structure via an existing corridor, avoiding extensive roof modifications. Architectural concrete was used as the primary material throughout to differentiate the addition from the existing wood-and-stucco house. Low maintenance was a key consideration for material selection. Interior materials include white oak flooring and stair treads, Formica cabinets, and a tempered-glass handrail system, all emphasizing a minimal aesthetic. The lower level of the addition contains no interior structural walls. This approach allows for future modifications to the floor plan and adaptability in the program if needed. Resiliency is also achieved through energy-efficient glazing, heating and cooling, a water-efficient pool and landscaping, a PV array and high-fly-ash concrete. Location Salt Lake City, Utah Owner Private Builder JM Construction Structural Engineer TBSE Landscape Design Voda Landscape + Planning Aquatics Design Water Design Photography Matt Winquist 23
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