Natural History Museum of Utah

The Natural History Museum of Utah is an impressive, architecturally unique building that houses the state’s extraordinary historic collection of 1.2 million ancient artifacts and features innovative exhibitions, gallery spaces, and educational spaces to further its mission of public engagement in the sciences. The LEED Gold® building sits on a 17-acre site is cut into a hillside overlooking the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. Museum spaces include eight themed exhibition galleries, children’s gallery, changing exhibit space, cafe, museum store, community meeting rooms. The exterior features board formed concrete walls and a standing seam copper horizontal façade mined from Kennecott Utah Copper’s Bingham Canyon Mine. Construction was challenging from the start with extensive excavation work and construction of a 45-feet tall soldier pile wall. Extensive, complex concrete work was another significant challenge. Big-D self-performed the concrete which required rigorous collaboration and some unique and never-been-done-before techniques. The project was an overwhelming success, completed within budget, and has since be recognized with numerous awards.