Take a look inside Climate Pledge Arena, the renovated home of the Seattle Kraken
There’s are 12,500 living plants and trees on site at Climate Pledge Arena. Many of them are featured on the 200-foot Living Wall — the one that’s 50 feet below sea level.
The plant-covered stretch is just one of the eye-catching features of the arena’s three-year, $1.15 billion renovation. It’s a visual representation of the arena’s goal to be the world’s first arena to earn net zero-carbon certification from the International Future Institute.
There are reminders of that aim everywhere you look. Take the 6,000-square-foot Alaska Airlines Atrium, which provides quite the entrance to the former Key Arena. The dramatic LED lighting — there are 28,175 square feet of digital signage in the arena — is perhaps most notable here. Screens project evergreen trees in the lobby. Head down the escalator and a giant LED display on the wall alternates between a forest and a waterfall.
There are also two flip-disc walls. The metal discs are programmable like a digital board, and they flip to reveal texts or images. Make sure to check them out as you walk by — just don’t touch them.
Above the ice, you’ll find the world’s first dual-suspended scoreboards in a professional arena. Head through the tunnel and you’ll see the Tunnel Club suites — there’s 19 of them. On the wall outside the Kraken locker room, an image takes up the full wall across from the Kraken locker room. From one direction, you’ll see the Seattle skyline at sunset. Walk to the other end, and the image changes to an ominous, red eye of the Kraken.
Inside the locker room, the Kraken logo is suspended from the ceiling. This will prevent players and visitors from stepping on a floor logo — a long-held hockey superstition for bad luck.
If you’re thinking the arena has everything, you just might be right. Climate Pledge even has a signature scent — a faint, salty aroma meant to remind you of the sea.
Take the full tour by watching the linked video if you’re reading online.
This story was originally published October 22, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
