So after my first trip to the Consol Energy Center last week I have to give it a review. I've been frustrated with the design since I first saw the renderings, and felt like from day one HOK mailed in a design because they had no competition. Even the city at one point was concerned with the generic design HOK was submitting. However, I wanted to wait until I actually went to a game to see if it would somehow change my mind. Don't get me wrong, it is amazing to have a new facility with state-of-the-art everything but architecturally they dropped the ball. You can't go from having the iconic igloo for 40+ years to an extremely generic arena that could be dropped anywhere in the world. Originally when I heard HOK, now Populous, received the commission there was excitement because I know their recent work especially with stadiums/arenas has been spectacular. They also had a unique opportunity with the site just down the hill from the igloo but also adjacent to the historic Epiphany Church which even HOK's Patrick Lempka mentioned: "We thought we had a great opportunity to take advantage of [the church] as sort of an iconic piece of architecture that we could use to actually make the arena even a stronger idea than just a stand alone building." I'd like to hear an explanation of exactly how they took advantage of that building....other than building a stand alone arena that has no tie to anything. Couldn't they have at least tried to match the color of the church with the new masonry? Generic design, generic materials, generic color, and generic curtain wall. Seriously, I'm supposed to be excited about a large glass wall when they have done so much better? When they mentioned incorporating the church into the design I thought it could be extremely successful like their design for the O2 arena in Dublin from 2008, roughly the same time Consol was being designed. And even the interior fails, especially with the roof over the actual ice which looks extremely unfinished. There is almost no sign of creativity anywhere, there are some really nice things they did with graphics but that wasn't anything HOK was involved with. This was a 320+ million dollar project, and I think the main fault was that there was no competition. HOK had a great reputation and were given this commission but failed miserably in delivering on anything creative. Just so people can see what I'm talking about I compiled some images of HOK professional arenas from the last 6 years....tell me which one they cared about the least:
So thank you HOK/Populous, in a city with rich history and iconic architecture you have provided a mediocre building that will not be remembered in another 25-30 years when a new one is needed. The excitement of a new facility will wear off and when the dust settles from the old civic arena we will be left with this beige masterpiece of dullness.
