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LA's Crypto.com Arena is getting a 'nine-figure' overhaul courtesy of Gensler and MEIS

2022-08-24T15:07:00-04:00

AEG has announced a new “nine-figure” overhaul of Los Angeles’ iconic renamed Crypto.com Arena (formerly The Staples Center) and adjacent L.A. LIVE pedestrian mall in a two-year project that promises to “provide fans with entirely new ways to experience their favorite sports and music event” once it is completed in 2024.

Urbanize LA has more on the planned renovations, which include a new entrance at the concourse level, added restaurant offerings, LED displays, reimagined City View Terrace, upgraded locker rooms, and the creation of new private suites and a multi-level Tunnel Cub said to be reserved for the arena’s many nightly VIP guests.

Image courtesy AEG

Ron Turner (Gensler) and Dan Meis (MEIS), the two architects who worked on the original Staples Center project 25 years ago, will return to oversee the construction, which they say is meant to provide fans with an enhanced entertainment experience for the next three decades.

Image courtesy AEG

“As one of the ...

Studio Libeskind’s Nokia Arena takes center ice in Finland

2021-12-16T13:13:00-05:00

An exciting new development is coming to one of the Nordic region’s most up-and-coming small cities as Studio Daniel Libeskind gets set to drop the puck tomorrow on a new ice hockey arena in Tampere, Finland.

Located along the intersection of a downtown railway axis, the mixed-use development also features hotel accommodations along with five residential towers meant to activate a downtown core that the firm characterizes as “the epitome of a thriving European City.”

Photo © Hufton+Crow

The 17,000-seat arena includes a casino and restaurant topped off by the hotel area and three luxurious rooftop saunas. Its curvilinear envelope suggests the speed and exhilaration of an attacking hockey forward on the power play, with variable cladding that breaks up the mass perfectly, culminating in a glass facade at ground level to meet both visitors and the city in the center of a well-organized urban scale development.

Photo © Hufton+Crow

“The Nokia Arena creates a new landmark for the city with ...

Populous' overhauled Climate Pledge Arena is officially open in Seattle

2021-10-26T10:13:00-04:00

The puck has dropped on the home debut of the NHL’s newest franchise. Seattle’s Kraken professional hockey team is settling into its new digs after the Populous-designed Climate Pledge Arena officially opened on Friday in the Emerald City.

The 17,400-seat arena is the risen corpse of the building known formerly as KeyArena, the original Paul Thiry structure from 1962 that was once home to the beloved world champion SuperSonics.

In the past, the city has been plagued by its inability to successfully find public funds for a replacement arena that would have kept the erstwhile NBA franchise from moving to Oklahoma (the city can also thank Howard Schultz for that) but was able to secure the private funding necessary to construct the arena, which came with a steep $1.15 billion price tag.

Now, the expanded 740,000-square-foot arena can bill itself as the world’s first net-zero carbon professional sports facility thanks to a solar roof that also features the ability to harvest rainwater, ...

Anaheim Ducks to convert stadium parking lots into mixed-use district

2020-06-26T16:56:00-04:00

The owners of the Anaheim Ducks professional hockey team have unveiled OCVibe, a vision that could bring a new concert arena, 825,000 square feet of office spaces, 2,800 residential units, and 30 acres of public open spaces to the areas immediately surrounding Anaheim's Honda Center.

Currently organized as a sea of parking lots designed to serve the stadium, the project site also includes the ARTIC rail station, which is set to receive California High Speed Rail service in 2033. An existing office block will grow to include a new 20-story office tower. The offices will be surrounded by apartment blocks organized around the existing street grid.

The western edge of the site is set to feature open spaces that connect to the adjacent Santa Ana River. Meanwhile, the opposite side of the 115-acre site is wrapped in parking structures containing 5,800 parking stalls that face California State Route 57.

An architect has not been named. The project is slated to take shape in phases follow...