Buffalo Sabres Arena - Table of Contents
HSBC Arena
Research by Penelope Silverman
Edited by Wendy Guba and Paul Waara
All are staff members of Arts in Education Institute of Western New York
The HSBC Arena, a $127.5 million, 700,000-square-foot sports and entertainment complex, was designed in 1996 by Ellerbe Becket of Kansas City, Missouri. Ellerbe Becket is one of the nation's largest architecture and engineering design firms and is nationally recognized as a premier designer of sports and entertainment facilities.
Their work includes the following:
- TD Banknorth Garden in Boston, home of the Boston Bruins (NHL) and the Boston Celtics (NBA)
- Scottrade Center in St. Louis, home of the St.Louis Blues (NHL)
- Qwest Field in Seattle, home of the Seattle Seahawks (NFL)
- Verizon Center in Washington, home of the Washington Capitals (NHL) and theWashington Wizards (NBA)
- Guangdong Olympic Stadium in Guangzhou, China, winner of the 2002 American Architecture Award from Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architectureand Design, that helped host the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.
HSBC Arena is located at the foot of Main Street in what was once a thriving commercial district on Buffalo's waterfront. Adjacent to the Arena on the east is the Cobblestone Historic District. The District includes a collection of historic waterfront-era buildings and red Medina sandstone paving dating from 1835.
Visible from the Arena on the west is Lake Erie, Buffalo's Inner Harbor, and the reconstructed Commercial Slip, which was located where the Erie Canal met the Buffalo River and highlights Buffalo's historic position at the western terminus of the Erie Canal. Next to the Commercial Slip is the Buffalo and Erie County Naval and Military Park, the largest inland park of its kind in the nation and home of the USS The Sullivans, the USS Little Rock, and the USS Crocker. On the exterior of the Arena references to its waterfront site include porthole windows and a stylized ship's mast with a crow's nest on the northwest corner of the façade.
Just south of the Arena, on the Buffalo River at Washington Street, is the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad Terminal built in 1917. The DL&W Terminal's repeating arches are echoed in the repeating arches on the exterior of the Arena.
The Arena's location was chosen to be a springboard for development and to bring a new vitality to the waterfront area. Its pale green dome rises 156 feet from the ground and is covered with a Birdair PVC membrane in a pale green color much likethe color of the lake.
InteriorPatrons enter the building through the glass enclosed pavilion that wraps around the north and west sides of the building. The five-story, 40,000- square-foot Pavilion is 330 feet long and has a 65-foot-high clear glass barrel-vaulted ceiling with skylights that flood light into its interior and imparts a dramatic ambience of light and space.
The wave pattern on the green and blue floor and wave elements on the railings introduce the water and wave theme that is carried throughout the Arena.
The Pavilion, the primary point of entry, is a festive gathering space for event-goers. On the east end is the ticket lobby, the brightly colored red, yellow, and violet Cash Court, and a sculpture of a rotating hockey player and basketball player on a tall red pylon. On the west end is The Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame and the 5,000-square-foot Sabres Store.
At mezzanine level inside the Pavilion is the Headlines Sports Bar featuring Buffalo sports history as seen through its headlines. The hockey goalie pads used around the bar and the columns, along with the basketball hoop lights, add to its appeal.
At either end of the concourse are escalators that carry patrons up to the seating levels where they can enter through a blue tiled vomitory to their seats or circle the perimeter of each seating level in wide corridors with access to restrooms, concessions/restaurants and clubs.
The Harbour Club was designed by Hamilton Houston Lownie Architects. The 100 level features dining room and banquet facilities, two large bars, a 13" x 19' videoscreen and television monitors throughout. The 200 level has a market style restaurant, a large sports bar, and tables that are available overlooking the ice. Floor to ceiling arched windows overlooking the harbor, curving walls of light mahogany, vibrant tiles, and pierced aluminum decorations recalling ships sails were used increating an exceptionally handsome space for dining and special events.The Aud Club features original, refurbished artifacts (such as iron gates/ lightfixtures, a John Labatt sign, and old stadium seats) from the old Memorial Auditorium. The Memorial Auditorium was designed in 1941 by Green and James and was the original home of the Buffalo Sabres. The HSBC Arena was built to replace Memorial Auditorium.
Inside the 19,000-seat Arena bowl the views are spectacular. Seats are stacked to improve the fans' feeling of involvement in the action on the event floor and provide an excellent view of the 200-foot by-85-foot ice surface.
A 34-foot-high by 32-feet-wide H D video scoreboard board weighing 52,000 pounds hangs over the center of the ice.It includes four high resolution LED boards that are 22'10" wide by 13'5" high, two 360 degree ribbonboard video displays, and an illuminated Sabres logo with capabilities for presenting lighting and smoke effects.
Sightlines and acoustics were well planned. The exposed roof struts and sound baffles of the 156' high domed ceiling are a blend of function and beauty. Steel truss rigging beams A and B (identified by2" tall letters painted on the web of the beam), were designed to hold a maximum of 6/000 lbs. and 7,500 lbs. respectively. The highest rigging beams are 127' from the floor. It is one of the highest rigging grids in the nation (highest rigging at MemorialAuditorium was 80').
The last beam put in place during construction was signed by Seymour H. Knox III (late Chairman of the Buffalo Sabres), the ironworkers, and local children.
See also: First Niagara Center for additional information.
