Photos: A look inside Seattle's new Climate Pledge Arena ahead of Kraken home opener

After first breaking ground in late 2018, Seattle's brand-new Climate Pledge Arena is gearing up for its grand unveiling this week.

The Foo Fighters and Death Cab for Cutie officially christened the venue during a charity show on Wednesday, and Coldplay is set to perform in a grand opening concert on Friday. The Kraken will then take to the ice for their home debut against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.

With a final price tag of $1.15 billion, the 740,000-square-foot arena is twice the size of the former KeyArena with the capacity to hold 17,100 fans for a National Hockey League game and closer to 18,000 fans for a concert or basketball game.

The new structure preserves the angled, 40-million-pound roof of the previous arena, which was built for the 1962 World's Fair and later given landmark status. The arena lives up to its name with many eco-friendly features with on-site solar panels and a "rain to rink" system that harvests rainwater from the roof to make the ice for the NHL.

The architects, Populous, designed the interior of the arena to have optimal flow, making it easier to navigate than the former KeyArena. Approximately 85% of fans are expected to enter through the Alaska Airlines Atrium on the south side of the arena and then go down to their seats. Unlike many other arenas, most of the seats in Climate Pledge Arena are subterranean.

LED screens encapsulate much of the space in the atrium and main concourse, allowing for an immersive storytelling experience that is customizable for each event. A 200-foot living wall, similar to the one in the Amazon Spheres, also makes for a photo opportunity and highlights some of the arena's sustainability goals.

Convenience is also at the center of the fan experience in the new space. Amazon's Just Walk Out technology is featured at four food locations in the arena: Starbucks, Shaq's Big Chicken, Lil Woody's and the 14 Hands Marketplace. Fans will either insert their credit card at the entry gate or scan their palm over an Amazon One device.

While shopping for what they want, Amazon will track the items taken from shelves using camera and sensor technology and automatically charge the credit card on file when the person walks out of the store. There are a total of 14 Amazon One enrollment kiosks in the arena, and it takes approximately 45 seconds to register.

"One of the things that we focused on early was ensuring that we're doing as much as we could to cut down on lines," said Todd Humphrey, senior vice president of digital and fan experience, during a media tour Wednesday. "Fans will now spend more time in their seats, watching the games, watching the concert and socializing."

While the Kraken team store is just below the atrium, fans have the option of using the mobile app to order merchandise before or during the game and have it delivered to one of five kiosks around the arena for convenient pick up and less time spent waiting to check out. Fans can also reserve and pre-purchase parking at the arena ahead of time using the app.

With a commitment to sourcing over 75% of the food locally, other dining options inside the arena include Ethan Stowell's Ballard Pizza Company, Din Tai Fung and Just Poke. Local breweries like Fremont and Silver City are also featured.

The arena features 40 luxury sideline suites and 19 Tunnel club suites with interiors designed by David Rockwell.

While the Kraken will do much of their practice at the Community Iceplex in Northgate, the tunnel level also features facilities such a gym, locker room, sauna and video replay room. The Seattle Storm also have a state-of-the-art locker room on this level, and the team will play their 2022 season in the new arena.

And there's good news for fans hoping the Sonics will eventually return to the city: the arena also includes both home and away locker room and training space for a future NBA franchise.

"We'd like to drop little hints," Humphrey joked.

Supply chain issues have slowed down some of the progress in the days before the grand opening, with many deliveries stuck on freight ships. While final touches and last-minute tweaks are still being made ahead of the Coldplay concert, officials are proud to finally unveil the long-awaited arena.

"We're very pleased on what we have created for Seattle in this moment of truth," said Oak View Group CEO Tim Leiweke.