JACK BURTON

M.Arch. May 2025

Jack Burton is a recent Master of Architecture graduate from the University of Utah whose work explores the intersections of landscape, labor relations, and aesthetics, with a particular interest in the picturesque and the role vernacular architecture played in the eighteenth-century art movement. Jack’s design philosophy is established in context, craft, and community. His current research looks at contemporary models of healthy aging, with a focus on how gardening and cultivation can support autonomy, well-being, and social connection later in life. Through his work, Jack continues to explore how architecture can nurture both people and place.

Jack came to his architecture studies with an already established foundation of drafting, managing BIM models, and seeing projects through construction administration. His background gave him the freedom to explore conceptual and abstract skills during his time at the University of Utah’s School of Architecture while remaining grounded in established construction methodologies. Jack understands the balance in architecture between the client's wants and the community's needs and does not shy away from seeking one in the other.

A native of Ringwood in the United Kingdom, Jack moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, at the age of 18 to pursue a degree in Urban Ecology. After graduating in 2019, he worked for Woodbury Corporation as an Architectural Designer before returning to school in 2022 to complete a graduate degree in Architecture. Jack enjoys spending his free time improving skills he finds comfort in, such as baking loaves of sourdough and jogging through Utah scenery.

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PREHERITAGE EDUCATION CENTER

FALL 2022

Exterior Classroom

First and Second Floor Plans

Exterior Material Studies

Education and Cultural Center

12,000 Square Foot

Rammed earth and Heavy Timber Construction with extensive glazing.

Residents of Moab have a complicated relationship with the millions of tourists attracted to its one-of-a-kind landscapes. While the summer tourists bring in seasonal economic growth - during the winter, much of the town's built environment sits underutilized and empty. A similar issue has crept into the town's housing market as the popularity of second homes and short-term vacation rentals have boomed in recent years. Those with the intention of year-round residence struggle with rising residential prices and few urban amenities designed for their usage.

Contextual Site Mapping

Site Visit Photography

The Preheritage Education Center is located centrally in Moab's residential neighborhood. The sites adjacencies provide a unique opportunity to cater to a population that relies heavily on sporadic job opportunities. The program of the building fills a gap in the urban amenities providing an early learning environment. By facilitating an affordable childcare solution, Moab permanent resident are afforded more flexibility when employment is so varied. Furthermore, the site is surrounded by a context that indicates human settlement in this region for millenniums, and the proposed building looks to these histories to aid the town's contemporary problems.

Conceptual Site Mapping
Multimedia collage on engraved MDF (24”x36”)

Moab has had its recent history steeped in displacement, which today manifests in the housing issues that make the popular tourist town financially inaccessible to permanent residents. The conceptual site mapping explores the layers of displacement throughout the valley’s history, from the 1950’s booming uranium mines to the oral histories of those native to the land. Onto this collage of historical documentation, the short term rentals and their sprawling influence are engraved. Subtracting and deteriorating the collage and historical foundation.

1:2 Mockup of Operable Facade Shading

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