Space Needle
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Identification
Name
Space Needle
Emporis Building Number
119476
Location
Map and Surrounding Area
Technical Data
Height (tip)
*
Height (architectural)
184.41 m
Height (observation floor)
158.12 m
Width
*
Floors (above ground)
6
Construction start
*
Construction end
*
Renovation end
2000
Gross floor area
*
Floor-to-floor height
*
Floor-to-ceiling height
*
Elevators
*
Construction costs
*
Structure in General
Construction type
observation tower
Current status
existing [completed]Structural material
steel
concrete
Architectural style
futurism
Official website
|
Now available and only here! View this building during its construction process. |
Usages
Main usages
restaurantFeatures and Amenities
City landmark
Floodlighting at night
Observation floor is available
One of the city's famous buildings
Facts
There are 832 steps to the observation deck. |
It took 400 days to design and build the Needle. |
There are 24 lightning rods on the top of the Needle. |
The tip of the Needle is 730.25 feet above "see" level. |
Decorative "halo" is 138 feet in diameter. |
Original site (120'x120') sold for $75,000 in 1961. |
Total weight of the structure is 9550 tons, including the 5850 ton foundation. |
On a hot day the Space Needle expands about 1 inch. |
The foundation weighs almost 6,000 tons and there are 250 tons of reinforcing steel in the base alone. |
The Legacy Light was first illuminated on New Year's Eve 1999/2000. |
The Legacy of Light was first depicted in the Century 21 Exposition poster and is used during holidays and commemorates special occasions in Seattle. |
The entire Space Needle saucer does not revolve, only a 14-foot ring next to the windows. |
Centerpiece of the 1962 World's Fair, otherwise known as Century 21 Exposition. |
The original name of the Space Needle was The Space Cage. |
The original revolving restaurant, Eye of the Needle, is now called SkyCity. |
Brainchild of Edward E. Carlson (1911-1990), a Seattle civic leader and former CEO of United Airlines and Westin Hotels, who sketched the concept on a cocktail napkin at a restaurant atop the Fernsehturm in Stuttgart in 1959; the doodle was inspired by science fiction magazines, Sputnik, and the German tower where he dined. |
The average elevator trip is 43 seconds. |
The revolving restaurant is 500 feet above the ground. |
Upon completion the Needle was the tallest structure west of the Mississippi River. |
The last of the original elevators (replaced in 1993) were delivered just one day before the World's Fair opened on April 21, 1962. |
The Skyline Banquet Facility was opened in 1982 at the 100-foot level. |
Companies involved in this building