Surrounded by a three-acre plaza that connects the city of Sacramento to the best in fan entertainment, Golden 1 Center immediately creates a sense of arrival for all guests. The plaza offers a meeting place, as people all over the area gather together to see an event in the city’s newest entertainment building.
Framing the arena’s Grand Entrance are two 25-foot-tall LED screens, greeting fans with news of upcoming events, messages from the players, and even selected fan photos. These custom-made screens have also been used to display art from students at Sacramento State University, providing more opportunities for public art in the Sacramento area and creating a new aspect of the fan experience.
The Grand Entrance also has five aircraft hangar doors, developed by Schweiss Doors, that can fold upwards to welcome in the Delta breeze, a natural cooling phenomenon in Sacramento, and reduce the energy costs of the arena, maintaining a comfortable environment. These doors, which are 40-feet-tall and 27-feet-wide, serve as the focal point of the arena, and when closed, shield the arena from Sacramento’s 100-degree summer days, while offering a glimpse of the city’s up-and-coming skyline. The idea of incorporating the hangar doors into the architecture was to not only give it a touch of Sacramento, but also create the first “outdoor-indoor arena” in the NBA.
Visitors descend into seats from street level, instead of climbing ramps to go up into the arena. The open, airy environment allows fans to look back out to the plaza and city, bathed in sunlight through the hangar doors.
And true to the arena’s technology foundation, the Sacramento Kings changed the venue entryway by installing new and improved ticket scanners. With these new “smart kiosks” from Skidata, up to 1,000 fans can get into the arena per hour per machine, versus the limited 300 fans per hour when using manual ticket-scanning machines – nearly tripling the speed at which fans enter. Ultra-fast ticket scanning gets fans in the doors faster and able to enjoy the atmosphere of the arena without the time-consuming lines.
From the moment fans step onto the plaza, the many unique aspects of Golden 1 Center work together to welcome them into the sunken arena bowl, designed to put every fan closer to the action, and provide excellent views regardless of seat location.