Exterior view of the southwest side of the UBS Arena in El Monte, New York. (Photo: J. Conrad... [] Williams, Jr./Newsday RM via Getty Images)

The back-to-back New York Islanders NHL game will open a new UBS Arena in Belmont Park, which is the first arena specifically designed for hockey in the league. This $1.1 billion project provides a new home for the islanders on the border of Queens and Nassau County. This is the islanders' third venue since 2015. But the UBS Arena provides a permanent solution for the team to modernize the fan experience while embracing the benefits of the past venue. 

"We took the bowl from Nassau (the gymnasium) and moved it over. We are calculating the height of the ceiling. We are recreating the intimate experience," said Jon Ledecky, co-owner of the islanders. "With all these new arenas, the sense of intimacy disappears. Our vision is to create a modern arena equipped with amenities, but to return to the great arena of the past." 

This fusion of experiences merges a narrow and steep suite ocean with a more spacious lobby, highlighting modern food and beverage facilities, plenty of restrooms-UBS will have more restrooms than any public building in New York City-as well as socially dedicated A new wave of interactive and designed space. 

View of the ice and seating area of ​​the UBS Arena in El Monte, New York. (Photo: J. Conrad... [] Williams, Jr./Newsday RM via Getty Images)

But it all started with hockey. The privately funded 690,000 square foot arena is located in 430 acres of Belmont Park, covering 43 acres. Team owners Ledecky and Scott Malkin brought Oak View Group as partners in the arena. OVG CEO Tim Leiweke said that one of the great advantages of designing UBS with the architect Populous is the ability to design from scratch because they are not bound by the existing infrastructure.

"We got a great opportunity to build it in the right way with a piece of paper, from loading at the truck dock, loading to the artist's compound," he said. "We are not building around existing structures, you will see this in customer convenience." 

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Malkin, the founder of Value Retail, who specializes in high-end experiential retail, said that he looked at the new UBS Stadium in the same light, creating a venue based on the four key “pillars” of the location, islanders and first-class concerts, Gao First-class hospitality and experience that creates good memories. 

Team officials plan to cut the ribbon at the venue on November 19, and then celebrate with two islanders games over the next two days. Then, in a venue called "Born for Music, Built for Hockey" by the designer, Harry Styles will hold its first concert at the venue on November 28th. 

Aerial view of UBS Arena. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Leiweke said that he firmly believes in not competing with artists or teams when designing venues, so creating a bowl that focuses solely on entertainment proved to be crucial. 

The Islanders are a team that has used the Nassau Stadium as their home stadium since 1972. In addition to the Hockey Center at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn for several years, they will now have the league’s first hockey-specific arena design. The owner said . The ceiling height is only 93 feet-3 feet higher than Nassau-plus an uninterrupted low bowl, steep as modern regulations allow, and the entire 17,500-seat arena pushes each seat closer to the ice . 

"For the connection between fans and artists, letting them in and saying this is the best experience I have ever seen is crucial," Leiweke said. "We can transform the concert hall into a hot, sweaty hall so they can reach out and touch the last row." 

With this, the UBS Arena has fewer suites and more clubs. UBS will have 56 suites instead of the 220 suites in the Staples Center, which will give the venue a walled feel. Some of them were stuffed under the bowl. 

"We got rid of the suite," Lewieke said, "and created a social atmosphere that doesn't conflict with the bowl experience we want. People don't want a corporate box." 

The club space provides different styles for different purposes. There is even a "secret bar" mixed into the social space. "Fans want that social moment, social interaction," Leiweke said. “They want to have a high-quality moment where they can share this experience. They don’t want a company box, and artists don’t want to see 220 suites. We got rid of the suites and created a kind of Experience a non-conflict social atmosphere in the bowl."

Construction will be carried out at the main entrance of UBS Arena from June 2021. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Two suite styles include one with a private lounge, bar and bartender behind the front seats. The other is the more classic arena suite. 

The concession space highlights out-of-the-box features, including Amazon Just Walk Out technology. The social experience extends to the bar in the upper lobby, imitating the bar in the Premier League venue, providing standing space and social space, and a unique view of the bowl. 

"When we talk to a lot of young fans, they want to meet in the game," Ledki said. "The idea at the time was that they had a place to stand and hang out and have the opportunity to share what they liked in common, in this case island hockey." 

The restrooms are also an important point. There are 68 restrooms facing guests in the building, and women's restrooms are focused on to reduce queues. 

Malkin said they plan to combine the experience of the arena with the experience of high-end fashion retail or four-star boutique hotels, from decoration to personalized suites. "I have never seen an arena that feels like a four-star boutique hotel," he said. 

Malkin said that the brick-centered facade highlights tradition and classics, rather than the “spaceship” design of the current era. This design pays tribute to the second Madison Square Garden, integrating industrial elements into the central station-like lobby, and connecting with the "classic New York Knicks", giving people a feeling of experience rather than transaction. 

The Islanders mainly funded a new railway station in Belmont Park, allowing the Long Island Railroad to transport fans to the arena in 25 minutes from Central Station or 30 minutes from Penn Station. It takes less than 10 minutes to walk from the station to the stadium. The designer meticulously designed the sidewalk to increase the ability to run programming on the entire sidewalk-whether it is a hockey performance before or after the game, or the music of the concert that night. 

Since the venue owner controls the parking spaces for 5,500 cars on site, the $140 million parking experience means that fans will not wander around looking for parking spaces. 

Malkin said: "The difference is that it is the first arena designed to operate as a destination based on the experience of the guests, with the exception of the memories you take away."