2025 Mountain States Best Projects
Award of Merit, Sustainability: Astra Tower
Astra Tower
Salt Lake City
Award of Merit, Sustainability
Submitted by Jacobsen Construction
Owner Kensington Investment Co.
Lead Design Firm HKS
General Contractor Jacobsen Construction
Civil Engineer Great Basin Engineering
Structural Engineer Thornton Tomasetti
MEP Engineer Archer Mechanical
Electrical Engineer Hunt Electric
Rising 40 stories above downtown Salt Lake City, this 456-ft luxury apartment high-rise is Utah’s tallest building. The tower has 377 residences of varying sizes and two levels of penthouse suites. An urban park sits on top of the five-level parking structure.
With LEED Gold certification pending, Astra Tower’s design emphasized addressing important Utah environmental issues such as air quality and water conservation. The building features a central air intake system equipped with two-stage advanced filtration, enhancing indoor air quality as much as possible for residents and guests. Operable windows facilitate natural ventilation, while first-of-its-kind air quality sensors have been integrated into each unit.
Another sustainability strategy was emphasizing community awareness. A color-changing beacon at the top of Astra Tower uses different shades of lighting to alert Utahns to real-time air quality conditions, leveraging its prominent skyline presence to encourage behavioral shifts around air pollution. In partnership with Utah Clean Air, the building connects to an air quality sensor that provides this air quality data in real time.
Water conservation is another focus. The tower will consume about 14 million gallons of potable water per year, representing at least a 35% reduction from expected baseline usage.
Biophilic design elements promote residents’ wellness, as do low emitting materials in the flooring, ceilings, insulation, paints, coatings, plaster and composite wood.
