Zions Bancorporation Opens Metro Salt Lake City Tech Campus

Zions Bancorporation Technology Campus. Image courtesy of Zions Bancorporation

Zions Bancorporation N.A. has just celebrated the opening of its new technology campus in Midvale, Utah, roughly 15 miles south of the multibillion-dollar financial services company’s Salt Lake City headquarters.

Zions consolidated operations from 11 other smaller locations at the 400,000-square-foot, eco-friendly building on what had once been the location of a contaminated former steel mill.

Carrying an address along Bingham Junction Blvd., Zions’ new 19-acre tech campus can accommodate more than 2,000 workers, but it is currently home to 1,500 employees working in technology, operations and other departments of the bank. The facility, while 20 percent smaller than the total square footage of the consolidated offices, offers a more efficient layout designed for greater collaboration and creativity.

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“How does a company create a culture in which creative ideas are easily shared and innovation can flourish if team members are working hybrid schedules or connect only via a digital display?” Harris Simmons, chairman & CEO of Zions Bancorporation N.A., pondered in a message to shareholders in February 2022. “We’re hopeful that by creating appealing spaces designed for teamwork and providing amenities that make coming into the office preferable to working from the dining room table, we’ll find that, as we make our way back to the office, it will be a big improvement over the experience so many of us have had for too many months.”

The new normal office

Zions broke ground on its tech campus in August 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a health and wellness-centric design by architectural firms WRNS Studio and Method Studios, and Gardner Co. managing the development. With general contractors Okland Construction and Layton Construction having completed the project in a timely fashion, Zions employees can now avail themselves of workspaces featuring views and natural light as core elements, and a spacious café with a menu of healthy offerings. The new campus also provides 179 electric vehicle charging stations and access to a neighboring community park and light rail station.

The LEED Platinum-certified property is also a model of sustainability, relying on a 2,000-panel photovoltaic installation to power 75 percent of the building’s electricity. The campus also has a parking facility on site, for which the city contributed a $5.5 million construction loan.

Employees of Zions will have even more diversions available to them in the future, as the tech campus is, for all intents and purposes, an anchor of View 78, Gardner Co.’s office-centric mixed-use development. Zions’ headquarters is practically enveloped by the 200-acre View 78 project, which will, ultimately, also include restaurants, retail and residences.