Space Needle

The Space Needle is a 605-foot observation tower in the Seattle Center district of Seattle, Washington, built for the 1962 World's Fair and now the city's defining architectural landmark. Its flying-saucer-shaped top house — supported on a single concrete column with three legs — contains two observation levels: the upper outdoor Sky Deck at 520 feet and the glass-floored Loupe, a rotating observation level at 500 feet that completes one revolution per hour. A 2018 renovation replaced the original exterior windows with floor-to-ceiling glass panels on the outer ring, creating what the owners describe as the world's first revolving glass floor — a section of which visitors can stand on and look straight down to the Seattle Center below. From the observation deck, 360-degree views encompass Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains to the west, Mount Rainier's snow-capped summit (14,411 feet) to the southeast, the Cascades to the east, and Elliott Bay and the downtown Seattle skyline directly below. On clear days the view is exceptional; the Pacific Northwest's marine climate means overcast is common, particularly from November through March. A single high-speed elevator reaches the top in 43 seconds. The Loupe restaurant on the observation level is a separately operated dining experience that completes a full rotation in 47 minutes. At street level, the Seattle Center — a 74-acre park left over from the World's Fair grounds — includes the Chihuly Garden and Glass, a world-class collection of Dale Chihuly's blown glass displayed in a series of galleries and gardens immediately adjacent to the Needle, making it a natural combined visit. The Children's Museum, Pacific Science Center, and a performing arts campus also occupy the Seattle Center.