Climate Pledge Arena
334 1st Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109
This is a build that did something structurally unusual and delivered on it. The 1962 roof from Seattle's Century 21 World's Fair is a protected landmark, so it could not come down. Populous detached the roof from its original concrete columns, held it up on temporary steel supports, dug out the ground underneath, and rebuilt the arena upward to meet the old roof again.
What got built
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What changed
- The historic 1962 roofline, a protected landmark, was retained rather than demolished, as proposed in the approved 2018 plan.
- Engineers detached the roof from its original supports and held it on temporary steel while the new arena bowl was built below.
- Official arena materials describe roughly 600,000 cubic yards of excavation; Populous reports 680,000 cubic yards, so the exact figure varies with source and scope.
- A ribbon-cutting and opening ceremony was held October 19, 2021, followed by the public grand-opening concert on October 22, 2021.
- After opening, the arena received International Living Future Institute Zero Carbon Certification; that dated certification is the basis for the venue's zero-carbon claim.
Why there is nothing to explain
The built arena follows the preserve-the-roof, rebuild-underground concept pitched at approval. The main change from the initial 2018 estimate was cost, which grew from about 700 million dollars to about 1.15 billion dollars as the underground scope was finalized, not a change to the design concept itself.
Details
- Status
- Built, and it follows the rendering.
- Where
- Seattle, WA
- Neighborhood
- Seattle Center
- Developer
- Oak View Group
- Architect
- Populous (2021 redevelopment); original 1962 roof designed by Paul Thiry for the Century 21 World's Fair, with NBBJ's 1995 KeyArena renovation
- Rendering credit
- Populous / Climate Pledge Arena
- The built result
- Photographed by Sea Cow, 2022-05-28
Sources
- Populous: Climate Pledge Arena design description populous.com
- Wikipedia: Climate Pledge Arena renovation history, budget, and timeline en.wikipedia.org
- Climate Pledge Arena: construction history climatepledgearena.com
- Populous: Climate Pledge Arena project populous.com
- International Living Future Institute: arena Zero Carbon Certification living-future.org
Research checked . Status and figures are updated when a source changes.
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