Seattle Center &
Climate Pledge Arena
Campus Maps System
As part of the renovation of Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena, the city invested in a new wayfinding system for the surrounding Seattle Center campus. In addition to the arena, Seattle Center includes the Space Needle, monorail station, numerous museums, theatres, a multi-use stadium, public art, and park space. I designed a comprehensive map system to be deployed on new digital pylon signs throughout the campus. The map system includes an overall campus map, art walk map, Climate Pledge Arena exterior maps, and arena interior maps.
Much of Climate Pledge Arena is underground. Visitors enter on the upper level of the arena and often need to descend multiple floors.
In order to improve visitors’ understanding, I designed the arena maps in 3D, highlighting the current level in the context of the rest of the arena.
I drew separate maps for each level of the arena to highlight seating sections, concourse amenities, and vertical circulation. Lower levels of the seating bowl and arena floor are shown on every map to help readers orient themselves in relation to the court, rink, or stage.
Digital pylon signs are located around the perimeter of the arena and allow maps and messaging to change based on time. Pre-event, the maps direct visitors to appropriate entries and contain messaging about arena policies. Post-event, the maps change to highlight exits, rideshare, parking, and public transit options.
These maps are designed to be “heads up” meaning that the map is rotated depending on the orientation of the pylon. This ensures that the map is always oriented in the direction the reader is facing.
Digital pylon signs are located at major decision points throughout the campus. Campus buildings and amenities are shown in lighter grays and color to stand out from the surrounding city grid.
Separate triangular pylon signs highlight the fifty public art installations throughout the campus.
Visitors are able to access a self-guided tour with detail on each artist/work.
Project Team:Designer: Nick Abele
Principal in Charge: Kelly Holton
Strategy & Planning: Jonathan Mugmon
Work completed at Populous