Rockwell Group Designs Premium Spaces Within the New Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle

SEATTLE, Oct. 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- World renowned architecture and design firm, Rockwell Group, today announced that the firm has designed seven premium spaces inside the new Climate Pledge Arena, scheduled to open later this week. Drawing on its hotel and restaurant expertise and decades of experience designing for performances and live events, the firm weaves a hospitality approach through the amenities at a variety of scales, including: two VIP suite typologies, an invite-only cocktail lounge, a bar and craft brewery, a fine dining restaurant, a top floor club and event space, and a modern food hall. Each offering takes guests on a unique journey, infusing the excitement of live events with the specificity of the Pacific Northwest using local materials.

Rockwell Group has created notable sports projects that combine shared, social spaces with immersive storytelling, such as MetLife Stadium's series of clubs and suites in New Jersey, the new Dolphins training facility that opened in summer 2021, and the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame. Now, Seattle's Climate Pledge Arena builds on those efforts and is an unprecedented 750,000 square foot arena designed with the future of live events in mind.

"Within Climate Pledge Arena, we have created unique hospitality spaces that will produce unprecedented entertainment experiences. We drew on the building's history as the site of the 1962 World's Fair, which was a catalyst for so much innovation in the city," said David Rockwell, Founder and President, Rockwell Group. "We are thrilled to continue that legacy of innovation in the arena, with state-of-the-art technology and unique interactions for audiences to fully participate and immerse themselves in."

"I have always had a fascination with this building as a native of Seattle," said Shawn Sullivan, Partner, Rockwell Group. "We are honored to have the opportunity to restore and re-design it with new ways for people to come together and make collective memories. It's exciting to help reimagine the arena for future generations to come."

"Rockwell Group has created an unprecedented experience for fans, where they get to be part of the theater and emotion of the action in the arena," said Tim Leiweke, CEO of Oak View Group. "From the private suites to the Mount Baker Club food hall, we're inviting our guests to a beautiful world-class arena with daylit spaces inspired by the city that surrounds us."

TUNNEL CLUB SUITES
The residential-style Tunnel Club suites were designed to offer a personal and theatrical connection with the game and the rituals of preparing to go out onto the court or ice. From each suite, guests can observe players walk through a tunnel from the locker room. Seen through a one-way mirror, the passageways are outfitted LED screens. Suite holders have direct access through the tunnel to their dedicated seating inside the arena.

THE PITCHBOOK SUITES
Cantilevered over the seating bowl, private sideline suites accommodate 16 people each. Inspired by a Seattle loft, the suites feature a bar and kitchen area defined by a porcelain tile stone backsplash and a sloping wood ceiling angled to a view of the arena.

Additionally, located at the southwest and southeast corners of the arena's PitchBook suite level, two 35-foot-long interactive flip disc walls utilize bespoke software and depth-sensing cameras to respond to guests' gestures and movements. It also features other real-time visuals that respond to the action in the arena, all on an innovative display that is highly sustainable. Conceptualized by LAB at Rockwell Group—Rockwell Group's experience design and technology studio and the team that created Illuminarium, a first-of-its-kind immersive entertainment venue opening in cities nationwide—these interactive walls were created in partnership with PitchBook, SportFive, Climate Pledge Arena, and Senovva.

THE MOËT AND CHANDON IMPÉRIAL LOUNGE
Five intimately scaled rooms frame views of the bowl through broadly arched openings. The private restaurant's high-end finishes are inspired by upscale interpretations of the traditional outdoor enthusiast's repertoire: a plaid marble mosaic floor, charred wood walls reminiscent of a campfire, and lantern-inspired lighting. Towards the bar, design touches include leather banquette seating and velvet curtains. The side dining rooms are completed by dramatic lighting, oak walls, and stone floors.

VERIZON LOUNGE
The Verizon Lounge is an invite-only cocktail lounge and nightclub, a "secret" party space beneath the arena where owners and players can entertain guests, inspired by an upscale version of Seattle's historic underground passageways. Plush niches envelope guests in emerald velvet drapery and feature a series of barrel-vaulted lounge spaces that orient towards a central bar. The sophisticated palette features a vaulted ceiling, smoked mirrors, and brass screens that offset dark millwork wall panels.

THE SYMETRA CLUB AND THE WaFd BANK CLUB (Bar and Craft Brewery)
Accommodating 1,300-1,700 guests, the Symetra and WaDf Bank Clubs feature a bar area flanked by communal gathering areas, specialty food counters, and a craft brewery. Drawing from found industrial spaces in Seattle, such as Gas Works Park, the club features corrugated steel, roughhewn white oak, reclaimed brick, woven steel mesh, and board formed concrete. A central illuminated backlit double height bar dominates the space, adding a voyeuristic element where guests can "see and be seen" from multiple levels and vantage points. The Suite Concourse above is crafted to look like a suspended catwalk or bridge, while the craft beer area, inspired by Seattle's Pike's Place market, features bright, festooned lights, and bold signage.

SPACE NEEDLE LOUNGE (Cocktail Bar and Event Space)
Located on the top level, the lounge offers views of the iconic Space Needle through an over-scaled skylight. The intimate club doubles as an event space and features blue ombre velvet waterfall curtains offset by brass finishes and exposed concrete.

MOUNT BAKER CLUB (Food Hall): 
Mount Baker Club is a modern food hall designed to highlight Seattle's robust culinary offerings. Bold signage, painted concrete floors, and custom murals by local artists add an industrial feel. Five food stalls, including a vintage Airstream trailer, feature wine and whiskey bars, pizza, sandwiches, and desserts. Clerestory windows bring daylight and views into the club from the exterior plaza.

Climate Pledge Arena is slated to open to the public on October 22, 2021.

About Rockwell Group
Based in New York with offices in Los Angeles and Madrid, Rockwell Group is an interdisciplinary architecture and design firm that emphasizes innovation and thought leadership in every project.  Founded by David Rockwell, FAIA, and led by David and partners Shawn Sullivan and Greg Keffer, the 250-person firm merges performance and architecture to create extraordinary experiences and built environments across the globe. Inspired by theater, technology, and high-end craft, the firm creates a unique narrative for each project, ranging from restaurants, hotels, airport terminals, and hospitals, to festivals, museum exhibitions, and Broadway sets.

SOURCE Rockwell Group