THE SUMMIT AT THE SEATTLE CONVENTION CENTER
Designed by LMN Architects, The Summit expansion at Seattle Convention Center is a massive, state-of-the-art facility. It’s also America’s first high-rise convention center. The $1.2 billion addition to Seattle’s classic Arch adds 1.5 million square feet of mixed use space through its connected tower, retail space, and of course its events building. It has enough room and supplies to service up to 13,000 people, and has over 9000 hotel rooms within a 6 block radius of it—perfect for bringing lots of people to the area. So what’s it got? Take a DEEP DIVE into the new building HERE.
Event Space
The Summit adds 570,000 square feet of event space throughout the main building’s 4 stories. This includes 149,000 square feet of heavy load exhibit space with direct, drive-in access, which is where the Northwest Event Show will be hosting major attractions like the Tech Zone, and where exhibitors can bring major displays and experiential setups. This is serviced by 18 covered loading bays, making it easy for vendors from across the West Coast to bring their awesome exhibitions in.
There’s also 140,000 square feet of naturally lit lobby space, providing room for even more booths.
The outdoor Garden Terrace provides another 14,000 square feet of fresh air, ideal for snacks, drinks, and conversation in the crisp northwest springs and beautiful summers.
Meeting Space
On the 3rd level of The Summit, there’s 99,000 square feet of carpeted meeting space, which can be broken up into 62 breakout rooms for speaking and education sessions, plus smaller meetups.
Keynote and Afterparty Space
On the 4th and top level of the event building, there’s the Ballroom, which covers 58,000 carpeted square feet. It’s where the NWES will host its Keynote Speaker and Welcome reception.
Sustainability
The Summit is LEED Platinum Certified at a minimum—but that’s just for starters. For famously green Seattle, this brand new premier event space is a showcase of all its values. Solar panels cover the roof, reducing energy usage by 30%. Ceiling tiles throughout the building are made from sustainable materials. Reclaimed wood hangs in the sprawling ballroom. Plus, two on-site dehydrators can take any unused food from the massive events that will be hosted here and reduce its volume and weight by 90%, before turning it into fertilizer and continuing its lifecycle.
The construction project achieved Salmon-Safe certification. This is a peer-reviewed program that certifies and monitors projects to improve their benefits to the environment, particularly around restoring urban watersheds. Many materials, such as carpet and fabrics, have high levels of recycled or post-consumer materials; paints and other coatings are low VOC.
