Church of Latter-Day Saints

Best Religious Building

Church of Jesus Christ of Later-Day Saints Temple

Church of Latter-Day Saints

The versatility of textures and patterns precast can provide made it a clear choice for the architectural details of this Church of Latter-Day Saints Temple project.

The dynamic and changing appearance of the façade, as the desert sun moves and casts shadows throughout the day, shows the artistry and beauty that precast can achieve.

The design of the Church of Latter-Day Saints features nearly 1000 precast concrete panels made with 73 forms. The sizes range from a single square foot to 262 ft², with the heaviest piece weighing more than 25,000 lb. The Architekton team, which was led by principal Greg Lambright, used three-dimensional (3-D) modeling to design the intricate patterns into each panel. “The ability to view the drawings in 3-D was beneficial on this complex project,” Lambright says. The precaster used the 3-D drawings to cast full-scale master molds and custom form liners. “Special attention was also paid to the mix design and finishes,” Lambright says. The owner wanted the temple to look and feel like natural stone, which they achieved by choosing a light buff color with a medium sandblast and including a white aggregate in the mixture that sparkles when the sun hits it.