Kenner Kingston, president of Salt Lake City-based Architectural Nexus, has some schematic sketches on his desk he’s reviewing with one of the firm’s associates. The drawings are not for a state-of-the-art laboratory or the new wing of a hospital, both market segments where the firm has gained particular prominence. Rather, they’re for a system that will collect and reuse rainwater for an off-the-grid house in Moab, Utah, a desert town in the southeastern part of the state. The firm is working with a community nonprofit that assists low-income residents in building their own sustainable straw-bale homes.
In a way, the project represents what Kingston sees as the firm’s future—innovative projects that are the result of collaboration and a smart, regenerative use of natural resources for people.