2023 Winter Issue - 54

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4. Climate Pledge Arena
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
At the foot of Seattle's Space Needle, an arena originally built for the
1962 World's Fair has been doubled in size and revamped to meet
the stringent net zero carbon certification requirements of the International
Living Future Institute. The city of Seattle, the Seattle Kraken
National Hockey League team, and the Los Angeles-based Oak View
Group joined forces to transform the facility, a landmark listed on
the National Register of Historic Places. Populous, based in Kansas
City, Missouri, restored the glass curtain wall and kept the arena's
distinctive modernist roof, which was temporarily lifted above the site
so that 680,000 cubic yards (520 cu m) of dirt could be dug out to
expand capacity.
Opened in 2021, the all-electric arena relies entirely on renewable
energy for its power and offers electric vehicle charging stations and
easy access to Seattle's monorail. A rooftop rainwater harvesting
system reuses precipitation for resurfacing the rink's ice. Sixty-seven
London plane trees planted for the 1962 World's Fair were protected
5. The Museum at the Gateway Arch
ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI
The sunken Interstate 44 long divided downtown St. Louis from the iconic
Gateway Arch. Many visitors to Eero Saarinen's monument rode a tram
to the arch's top without visiting downtown or even noticing the underground
Museum of Westward Expansion. Together, the city of St. Louis
and the nonprofit Gateway Arch Park Foundation raised money to transform
the park and museum for the 21st century and help downtown and
the facility emerge from the arch's shadow.
The partners replaced a parking garage with pedestrian paths,
moved the tram entrance to the museum, and doubled the size of the
museum. A new arc-shaped aboveground glass entry helps with visibility.
Rebranded as the Museum at the Gateway Arch, the facility now incorporates
more diverse perspectives into its exhibitions. A new land bridge
extends over the interstate to downtown. Lead architect Cooper Robertson
of New York City; local associate architect Trivers Associates; New
York City-based James Carpenter Design Associates, architect of the new
glass entry; and Brooklyn-based landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh
Associates collaborated on the project, completed in 2018.
on the site during construction. A park surrounds the arena's perimeter,
with accessible pathways providing pedestrian and bicycle
connections around the site and linking the arena's new plazas and
public art.
6. Missoula Public Library
MISSOULA, MONTANA
When the Missoula Public Library outgrew its downtown site, the library
teamed up with four local partner organizations that also needed new
space. Opened in 2021, the resulting facility is patterned after Scandinavian
culture houses, combining a variety of related community
resources under one roof.
Design architect and interior designer MSR Design of Minneapolis
and architect of record A&E Design of Billings, Montana, placed a café,
store, and maker space on the first floor, along with space for the
University of Montana Living Lab and Missoula Community Access Television's
production studio and equipment checkout services, which use
the same checkout system as the library. Upper floors include a children's
library, a demonstration kitchen, library collections and services,
and a business center, as well as the nonprofit Families First Learning
Lab, the University of Montana spectrUM Discovery Area, and collaborative
spaces shared by all the partners. Top-floor gathering spaces
provide access to an outdoor patio with views of Mount Sentinel.
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URBAN LAND WINTER 2023
© NIC LEHOUX
ALEX FRADKIN
© LARA SWIMMER
2023 Winter Issue

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of 2023 Winter Issue
