Amazing The Space Needle, Seattle Designed and Engineered to Support Revolving Restaurant - Washington

Built in 1962, The Space Needle, Seattle, Washington is an observation tower and served as the symbol of the 1962 World Fair. During the World’s Fair, some 20,000 people visited the tower each day, traveling right to the top with the help of elevators which can hold up to 25 passengers. Today the Space Needle is Seattle’s number one tourist destination. The Space Needle has also featured in a number of movies, one of them being ‘It Happened at the World’s Fair’ with Elvis Presley.

It has undergone some significant architectural changes, and in the 80′s the the revolving restaurant got a face-lift and the 100-foot SkyLine Level was added in. The Space Needle, Seattle has 25 lightning rods to protect it from lightning strikes. No structure like this would be complete without an observation deck, and the deck offers magnificent 360-degree views of the city, Mount Rainer, the beautiful Cascade Mountains and the twinkling city lights at night. The five-level dome is where you will find the revolving restaurant as well as the observation deck.

The restaurant, known as Sky City, originally rotated with a one-horsepower electric motor and makes one complete rotation every hour. Carlson roughly drew a space age image of the futuristic World’s Fair whose theme was Century 21. The team was headed by architect John Graham, who attended the University of Washington and received a degree in fine arts and architecture from Yale. He was assisted by Victor Steinbrueck, and the balloon-topped tower that Edward Carlson first sketched was transformed into the saucer-topped UFO tower of today.

Steinbrueck stated that the Space Needle «should be a demonstration of progressive technology and point a direction for engineering». The Space Needle was built for just $4.5 million and was completed in 1961. Steinbrueck stated that the one component that caused a bit of tension between him and Graham was the top house of the Space Needle Seattle, with Steinbrueck being aware that Graham wanted something that he was not willing to design. To this end, another architect, John Ridley perfected Graham’s saucer idea which then became the top house’s final form.

In 2000, the Space Needle completed a $20 million revitalization. The year-long project included construction of the Pavilion Level, SpaceBase retail store, SkyCity restaurant, exterior lighting additions, exterior painting and more.

Some interesting Architectural Facts of the Space Needle, Seattle

a revolving restaurant is 500 feet above the ground – the turntable revolves on a track and wheel system. A second restaurant-reception room at the 100-foot level was opened in 1982.

Construction include among others the SpaceBase retail store, the Pavilion Level, SpaceBase retail store, SkyCity restaurant, exterior lighting additions and more.

The Space Needle, Seattle is both a fair-and a city icon which has contributed to putting Seattle soundly on the map.

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