Kreielsheimer Promenade at Marion O. McCaw Hall

The Kreielsheimer Promenade at Marion O. McCaw Hall

The Kreielsheimer Promenade is a dramatic and unique meeting place for opera patrons and visitors to McCaw Hall. At just under one acre, it is also a welcoming public passage from the city into the heart of the 14-acre Seattle Center Campus. This family-friendly, dog-friendly space invites children to play during the day and transforms at night into a place of sophisticated urban energy. The entire water feature is universally accessible, and though not visibly apparent, a significant portion of the Promenade is built over mechanical rooms below.

An interdisciplinary collaboration resulted in this integration of architecture, landscape, lighting, and theater. The soft green color of the quartzite stone and the tinted concrete paving create depth to the space when it rains and high contrast in the sunlight. Sparkling with silvery light during the day, the stone and water become a canvas for the bold color and light projected on the scrims at night.