Architecture Directory

Sustainably-built house by Design Build Bluff in Navajo Nation-Southern Utah

Photo credit: Keith Carlsen

The University of Utah School of Architecture have a great program that every students surely very wish they were be a part of it during school, there is the Design Build Bluff which is a university design and build course started by Hank Louis. Design Build Bluff (DBB) have completed their seventh project sustainably-built house in Navajo Nation-Southern Utah. Their latest house in a string of super affordable and sustainably-built structures, is a testament to the hearts of those involved and the amazing education in green building the students are receiving. Each spring, Hank Louis takes a team of 22 University of Utah architecture grad students down to Bluff, Utah, where they live for the semester to build a home for someone on the nearby Navajo Nation. But long before they settle into their 1905 historic home and shipping container student housing for the semester, they spend the fall selecting from a long list of families in need and designing their new dream home. The students then work closely with the family to design and build a home that will work for them and their needs. And it just so happens that all of the homes are affordable, low-maintenance, usually made with reclaimed materials, sustainable, and totally off-grid. Starting this summer, the University of Colorado Denver will also take part in the DBB program and will start construction on their home in the Fall. Next spring, the University of New Mexico Albuquerque will join DBB and install a prefab house over the summer semester, making DBB a year-round program.

Photo credit: Keith Carlsen