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Safeco Field

Seattle, Washington

Home to the Mariners, Safeco Field has led the reawakening of Seattle's downtown industrial district.   Today's technology is blended with yesterday's nostalgia to create an atmosphere that a wide cross-section of society can embrace.   As in any large publicly funded project, the design team was faced with a tight budget, committee run, open-bid environment for this 47,600 seat facility.   This challenge was met head-on with a visionary art program and a commitment to the industrial aesthetic of the building and its neighborhood.

The articulation and materials of the building's main façade are highlighted with warm metal halide floodlights.   A strong pedestrian scale is established with lower wattage RLM-type metal halide industrial lights on pilasters at entry points.  Within the entry rotunda patrons are immediately greeted with the “TEMPEST”.   A composition of acrylic baseball bats, this sculptural chandelier provides a visual focal point to the space.   At various times the chandelier becomes animated as the surrounding lights dim down and a thunderstorm of strobe lights come to life.  The art program continues to provide a lively texture to the building as nostalgic billboards double as area lights for circulation on the upper concourse.

The industrial aesthetic becomes more contemporary as you move into the more refined spaces such as the club level circulation.   Here, compact fluorescent RLM's have luminous shades that allow uplight to accent the texture and material of the surrounding architecture.   Blue vaportights mark points of entry to the field seating.

As the sun sets, the bar becomes more moody.   Again, compact fluorescent RLM's are used, these with solid reflectors to direct warm light downward onto tables below.   In the circulation corridors above, wood ceiling elements are washed with light to pull the eye upward.  The suites are the final step in refinement as colored glass shades give a residential feeling to the central buffet table.

Perhaps most revealing of all is this shot of the ‘backside' of the building – where new technology and old exist in harmony.

The Ballpark's lighting design has been recognized with an IIDA Award of Merit.