Calgary Event Centre | 36.85m | 11s | CSEC | HOK

[MissingMiddle]

Do any arenas really have good street activation though?

Little Caesar's Arena in Detroit, though there's lots of opinions on the design:

Also TD Place in Ottawa was accompanied with the Lansdowne redevelopment, it was phenomenally done:

 

[MissingMiddle]

One of us is guaranteed to be happy. We just don’t know if it’s me or you yet.

I don’t mind curves now and then, but I want this thing to blow the thing in Edmonton out of the water, and no curves would eliminate any comparisons from the architecturally unwashed and uneducated up north.

Regardless of curves or no curves, I really hope they fully commit to one of them.

 

[Bertie Wooster]

Devil is in the detail, but street interaction is clearly a priority in the design. I don’t think I can think of an arena that’d be better, which is why a direct comparison is a bit hard.

 

[1875]

thanks for sharing that, what we all wanted to hear

 

[Surrealplaces]

Devil is in the detail, but street interaction is clearly a priority in the design. I don’t think I can think of an arena that’d be better, which is why a direct comparison is a bit hard.

Good to hear. I mean most of the arenas out there don't have great street interaction, but some are better than others. The ones mentioned earlier (For example, Little Caesar's, Consol Energy, Capital Once Arena) are pretty decent. If ours has a street interaction as good as those I'll be happy.

 

[1875]

if the arena finishes behind schedule its not a big deal as the flames never show up on time anyway

 

[RicoLance21]

Devil is in the detail, but street interaction is clearly a priority in the design. I don’t think I can think of an arena that’d be better, which is why a direct comparison is a bit hard.

Wait, I thought Little Caesars Arena has quite a bit of street interaction.

 

[FCC1982]

My only question....is it at least nicer looking and more pedestrian friendly than Edmonton’s barn?

That’s two questions

 

[Surrealplaces]

Wait, I thought Little Caesars Arena has quite a bit of street interaction.

It does. I think Littke Caesars arena maybe has the most street interaction of any arena at the moment.

 

[darwink]

Wait, I thought Little Caesars Arena has quite a bit of street interaction.

I thought so to. So lets go on an exploration together!

Spoiler

Next to the interstate, a new big parkade. Next to an old building turned into a parkade.

It is buffered on two sides by apartment buildings with retail on the bottom floor.

The exterior buildings are functionally separate.

Almost like:

Here is a cutaway:

I am not sure you can get much better than it, beyond screening it on more sides. If you had confidence in filling a 1000 room hotel, you could surround an arena in a hotel, with restaurants and tourist amenities at the bottom. Put the entire thing closer to the CBD, so the hotel is closer to full occupancy all the time.

But in the end is the goal: create a vibrant block? Or is it to avoid a hostile block? I think Detroit avoids a hostile block (once the final residential screening the parkades are complete even more so) and prevented the arena from being a black hole sterilizing the next 30 years of surrounding development.

 

[artvandelay]

Capital One Arena in Washington is the best example that comes to mind in terms of active frontage - it's very well integrated into the urban environment on 3/4 elevations:

https://goo.gl/maps/PgTJYrvLbZbJrzSV8

 

[Surrealplaces]

But in the end is the goal: create a vibrant block? Or is it to avoid a hostile block? I think Detroit avoids a hostile block (once the final residential screening the parkades are complete even more so) and prevented the arena from being a black hole sterilizing the next 30 years of surrounding development.

Agreed. An arena not being a hostile block is a win in itself. Arenas are inherently different than other buildings, as even the busiest ones aren't open or used all the time. If someone can build an arena that is also a vibrant block, all the power to them. Building one that is not a hostile block is at least a win IMO, as it's a better situation than 90% of the arenas out there. Maybe there's a way to think outside of the box and make a vibrant block that is also an arena, but just building a vibrant block period can be difficult.

 

[JTron]

Most arenas don’t have vibrant street fronts or good street interaction,, but some do sn okay job of it. Little Cesars and Capital One have been mentioned. and I agree with those choices. Those are the best at street interaction IMO.

A few years back I went to a concert at Madison Square Garden, and I thought it was probably the best arena for street interaction and vibrancy, but when I Street viewed it I was surprised to find out the street interaction isn’t how I remember it and it’s actually not very good. It’s the train station, and shopping area in the heart of Manhattan that make it vibrant, that snd there was a concert happening.

 

[MissingMiddle]

Rogers Place has gotten some criticism, notably for the bottleneck in the entrance area, but after attending events there I think the concourse and plaza are really well designed.

With essentially the same design team I'm interested to see how the design approach differs.

 

[JWhite]

Whatever design they go with, I can guarantee the street frontage will be 100 times better than Roger's Arena in Vancouver. Good on Calgary to be on top of this and thinking about it, and wish there had have been that mindset at the time they built the one in Vancouver. IMO, they didn't do any better in Edmonton either, it reminds me of Vancouver's only newer and more dazzling, however, like Vancouver the street feel and surrounds are a fail.