One-of-a-kind stained-glass dome will top Utah's new Capitol building
The custom-made vaulted ceiling will flood a multistory atrium with the diverse colors of the Utah landscapes it depicts once the expanded state office building, which will also house Utah's first state history museum, is opened to the public in 2026.
'This stained glass laylight is a powerful reminder that Utah's strength lies in our shared roots and our commitment to building a brighter future together,' Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said in a statement.
Composed of 14,000 individual glass pieces, the 25-by-25-foot window carries the colors of Utah's four central ecosystems, with detailed paintings of state symbols like the honeybee, sego lily and California gull against the backdrop of state and national parks like Wasatch Mountain, Goblin Valley and Bryce Canyon.
One artistic element has a special connection to Utah: a pair of bristlecone pines containing sand, rock and wood from each of Utah's 29 counties. The Great Basin, or ancient, bristlecone pine is one of the oldest-living organisms on the planet and is found in only three states, including Utah.
Identifiable landmarks like Dead Horse Point, Rainbow Bridge arch and Mount Olympus stand below the deep blues, golden yellows and whites of a sky centered around crystals taken from decommissioned government telescopes that will scatter rainbows down to the second floor where tourists can pick out their favorite Utah destinations.
'It's about joy for the land we live in,' said Dallin Orr, the head artist behind the project.
Orr works for Holdman Studios, a Lehi-based company that has done stained-glass displays for a number of public and private facilities, including a 200-foot wall at the Utah Valley University library, and for several temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
While it is not their biggest project ever, it is by far the largest skylight they have built, according to James Graham, the project manager at Holdman Studios.
The difficulty of applying stained glass to curved architecture meant they had to build each of the 89 glass panels on uniquely shaped forms at their workshop in Lehi before their installation at the Capitol, which was completed on May 2, Graham said.
Graham hopes the project can elevate the quality of conversations on Capitol Hill as concerned citizens and elected officials stand in awe of the same piece of art.
'It's really an opportunity for us to come together and enjoy something on a very emotional, personal level,' Graham said.
The artwork was procured by the Capitol Preservation Board in concert with the Department of Government Operations and the Division of Facilities and Construction Management.
Coming in at $1.6 million, according to the preservation board's executive director, Dana Jones, the stained-glass dome was not part of the original plans for the North Capitol Building.
In 2022, the state's 60-year-old office building, used mainly for executive agency staff, was torn down to make room for a new five-story, 151,535-square-foot building that would replace the former building's mid-20th century design with a neoclassical style matching the historic Capitol building dedicated in 1916.
The size and cost of the project has grown throughout the process.
At the 2022 groundbreaking ceremony, the project was expected to come in at $168 million, but is now projected to cost a total of $281 million, which includes renovations to the central plaza, and the construction of a 400-spot underground parking garage, as the Deseret News previously reported.
While much of this increase was reportedly caused by inflated construction costs, it was also impacted by add-ons like the stained-glass dome.
But the building's first-of-its-kind stained-glass double-dome marks an important investment in the future, according to Jones. It will become 'part of the historic fabric' of the Capitol complex for generations into the future, she said.
'We had a vision that we wanted Utahns to connect with this building,' Jones said. 'For anybody that comes into this building to have a 'wow' moment and to find their own way to connect with Utah.'
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