Building Excitement

Winners’ Circle

Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort • Hot Springs, Arkansas

The racetrack name may be as revered as the resort city it occupies: Oaklawn Racing in Hot Springs, Arkansas. In 1904, Oaklawn opened as a 1,500-seat grandstand, hosting high-stakes thoroughbred races. In the past 100-plus years, it has become the No. 1 tourist attraction in the state, and is now known as Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort.

In 2009, HBG Design was instrumental in the addition of a casino to the jockey club, and then oversaw a casino expansion and renovation in 2015. Most recently, Oaklawn turned to HBG to lead the architecture and interior design for the newest large-scale racing and gaming resort expansion.

It includes an eight-story, 198-room hotel with thrilling views of the horse track, a 15,000-square-foot event center, an expanded gaming floor and new high-limit area, a world-class spa and pool, and multiple upscale food and beverage venues including a food court, the First Turn Bar and the Bugler restaurant.

The Cella family, owners and operators of Oaklawn for generations, looked for a design that emphasized the resort’s roots in racing. HBG’s “tailored equestrian” concept more than fulfills that vision. The expansion took many design cues from Hot Springs’ heyday as America’s First Spa Resort, renowned for its thermal springs and iconic Victorian bathhouses.

Designers followed the strong horizontal silhouettes of the original grandstand to inform much of the aesthetic, introducing linear, interlocking volumes and building shapes to tie the elements together aesthetically. A new video wall builds anticipation as guests arrive.

Visual notes in the building’s architecture bring to mind thoroughbreds galloping to the finish line, adding a sense of movement to the iconic hotel mass.

Color and texture add visual interest, with metal panels in shades of red, orange, tan and blue-gray contrasting with a lighter-hued stone base and columns to continue the contemporary aesthetic. Corrugated materials on the exterior recall the grooves left on the racetrack turf after it is smoothed by chain harrows.

Bold architectural gestures highlight the two-story lobby and soaring prefunction space. The grand staircase and escalators are striking features of the tall entry lobby, and lead patrons to the new food court, main gaming floor and hotel guest rooms.

The lobby combines a refined modern aesthetic with historical undercurrents, using a restrained gray-blue, navy and tan color palette, natural woodplank ceiling, traditional patterned tile, marble finishes, and a breathtaking circular gold metallic chandelier.

The theme continues underfoot, in the carpet pattern, with overlapping planes that bring to mind galloping horses. They work together with lighting and pattern to create a sense of movement around the floor. The subtle equestrian theme continues in the sophisticated guest rooms and suites, for an aligned guest experience from end to end.

The use of glass fosters indoor/outdoor connection. To reinforce racing as the main attraction, the new hotel and amenity structures wrap around the track.

All design references in the expansion subtly hint at the rich horse racing heritage at Oaklawn, using abstract design themes as the catalyst for discovery. As Oaklawn General Manager Wayne Smith noted at the opening of the newly expanded space, “You’ll find throughout the whole facility that racing is in some way, shape or form involved in the design. What we want people to recognize is we are a racetrack first, and then we are a hotel and casino next.”

Smith said Oaklawn offers guests a “new level of luxury“ in the historic resort city.

OWNERS: The Cella Family ARCHITECTURAL & INTERIOR DESIGN: HBG Design TOTAL INVESTMENT: $100 million-plus OPENED: April 2021

Creek Rising

Quil Ceda Creek Casino • Tulalip, Washington

Over the last year, in the midst of a global pandemic, TBE Architects was able to complete and open a number of beautiful new projects. Among them was the Family FunPlex expansion at Wildhorse Resort & Casino in Pendleton, Oregon, owned by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. That project was followed by the brand-new We-Ko-Pa Casino, near Phoenix, Arizona, developed for the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation.

TBE’s most recent project is the new Quil Ceda Creek Casino, located in Tulalip, Washington, which marked its grand opening in February 2021. This completely new casino sits on 15 acres, adjacent to the former Quil Ceda Creek Casino. It includes a 126,000-square-foot casino with a six-level parking structure designed to accommodate 1,000 vehicles. There is room to grow, as a new hotel tower is planned as part of a future phase.

This property more than doubles the size of the casino it replaced, and offers guests many new amenities. They include a live entertainment venue called The Stage, along with more F&B variety, including the Keg Bar, the Landing and the Kitchen.

The Landing is a full-service dining venue that features classic favorites. Its setting pays tribute to the heritage of the Tulalip Tribes and their connection to the water, utilizing decorative canoe paddles and design elements that are reminiscent of water in motion.

But what really sets this casino property apart is The Kitchen, a new food-hall dining experience. The Kitchen features a variety of fresh items that are made-to-order in a “green kitchen,” utilizing windspeed and induction-cooking technologies.

The food-hall concept allows guests to order from a variety of food stations. Selections are recorded on a single card as they go, and guests pay a single bill for all orders when they are finished, as opposed to the “food court” model, in which patrons pay at each and every station or restaurant they visit.

Since 1971, TBE Architects has specialized in architectural and interior design for the hotel, casino and resort industries. Its clients include national brands such as Caesars Entertainment, Churchill Downs and Marriott, along with 116 Native American tribes and First Nations.

CLIENT: Tulalip Tribes of Washington ARCHITECT: TBE Architects (Thalden Boyd Emery) CONTRACTOR: Andersen Construction OWNERS’ REPRESENTATIVE: Eric Guion & Associates, LLC OPENED: February 2021

First and Foremost

Betfred Sportsbook, Paragon Casino Resort • Marksville, Louisiana

Caesars Entertainment opened two sportsbooks at Harrah’s New Orleans and the Horseshoe in Bossier City, Louisiana in late October with much fanfare, and deservedly so. The legalization of sports betting in the state was an arduous and difficult process.

But Caesars wasn’t the first sportsbook to open in Louisiana. That honor went to the Paragon Casino Resort in Marksville when the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe partnered with Betfred Sports and R2Architects + R2Interiors to create the sportsbook at The Draft Room inside the casino almost a full month before any other sportsbook in the state opened.

R2 Architects was retained to provide architectural, interior design, and planning services for this project.

“We were the first tribe in Louisiana to put a casino up,” says Paragon Board Member James Craig III. “Now we’re the first tribe in Louisiana and also across the board to have sports betting here in Louisiana. Everyone else is enjoying it everywhere else in Vegas and other states, but here in Louisiana, now we can enjoy it.”

The sportsbook features over 120 big-screen TVs and 200 seats including recliners, VIP sections, and slot machines. Betfred Sports will operate a traditional sportsbook in the Draft Room—Paragon's newest amenity—comprised of traditional theater seating, a custom video wall, betting counters and kiosks. The Draft Room’s restaurant and bar offers fan favorite foods, cold draft beers, and multiple seating options sure to please any sports fan.

Online sports betting will be available as well at a later date.

“All I want to ask you is who we’re betting on,” laughed Louisiana Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser.

Nungesser placed the next wager. He and other elected officials are looking forward to the tax revenue this billion-dollar industry can generate for state education.

“I think it’s the shot in the arm, no pun intended, that we need coming out of Covid,” says Nungesser. “We’ve been thinking outside of the box of things that we can do to draw attention to Louisiana because we’re competing against every state for those tourism dollars.”

“Our partnership with Betfred Sports marks a new chapter for Paragon, which has always been a source of pride for Marksville and the people of Louisiana,” Paragon General Manager Marshall Sampson, Sr., said. “With this new partnership, I hope visitors from across the region will have the chance to experience it for themselves. Together, we are offering a first-class sports betting platform and venue that will make Paragon Casino Resort the place to bet and watch games in Louisiana.”

The Paragon sportsbook is the fourth U.S. sportsbook for the British-based Betfred.

“Louisiana is an exciting opportunity for Betfred Sports to continue its expansion in the U.S. after successful launches in Iowa, Colorado and Pennsylvania,” said Mark Stebbings, Betfred Group chief operating officer. “We look forward to utilizing our 50 years of bookmaking experience with our fantastic partner, Paragon Casino Resort, to bring the best sports betting experience to bettors in the state.”

The sportsbook is powered by Scientific Games’ OpenBet platform featuring custom betting counters and self-service kiosks.

LOCATION: Paragon Casino Resort, Marksville, Louisiana OWNER: Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana DESIGNER: R2Architects + R2Interiors OPERATOR: Betfred Sports

Diamonds Are Forever

Diamond VIP Lounge and High-Limit Room Desert Diamond West Valley Casino • Glendale, Arizona

The new Diamond VIP Lounge at Desert Diamond West Valley Casino in Glendale, Arizona was meant to dazzle—literally.

Diamonds are meaningful symbols in the culture of the Tohono O’odham Nation, which owns and operates the gaming property. Inspired by the brilliance of the stones, the team at HBG Design introduced ambient lighting to illuminate the new lounge and new high-limit room.

Heightened by diamond-like patterns, the light refracts on gleaming upscale finishes throughout the space, including marble and decorative glass tiles, vibrant pendant lighting, fractal-patterned screening and carpeting, and jeweltoned fabrics.

Together, the elements create a truly luminous environment, grounded by a sophisticated desert-toned palette that calls to mind the sculptural features of the earth. The high-limit area, adjacent to the lounge, continues the jewel-inspired design scheme.

The aesthetic of the property derives from a concept called “The Dynamic Earth,” inspired by the vibrance and energy of the desert landscape. It is echoed in unique design interpretations in multiple food-and-beverage venues, the casino floor, and VIP and public spaces, and will inform future phases of the resort’s development, which tentatively include a hotel, spa and convention center.

The VIP lounge is the culmination of a multimillion-dollar resort plan that was first announced by the Tohono O’odham in 2009. After multiple legal challenges, the resort’s first phase was completed in 2015, with the larger project launched in December 2017. According to local media, construction workers spent more than 1 million hours building the $400 million facility.

Dr. Ned Norris, Jr., chairman of the Tohono O’odham Nation, said the projects are “creating a brighter future for the Tohono O’odham, the West Valley and Arizona… We will continue working with our partners to create even greater opportunity for us all.”

With the design aesthetic developed by HBG Design team, the elegant space will continue to attract visitors to Desert Diamond West Valley—and to dazzle them all.

OWNER: The Tohono O’odham Nation DESIGNER: HBG Design

Designed to Dine, Play & Stay

New Vegas Dining Options

Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace

In what is (optimistically) a post-pandemic world, resort customers are more eager than ever to dine out, hang out, and be entertained.

Based on activity along the Las Vegas Strip and at other gaming and entertainment complexes nationwide, that enthusiasm is especially evident in the wealth of new restaurants and entertainment venues coming online.

No longer is food a secondary experience at casino resorts, nor is menu the sole deciding factor. Restaurant design is an increasingly important factor in attracting patrons and getting them to play, stay and return to do it all again.

Additionally, entertainment options that draw in new and diverse guests beyond the game have become essential for properties as they assess ways to remain relevant and financially successful.

Bergman Walls & Associates (BWA) has played a critical role in many of these new dining and entertainment options. The Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace (with designer Tetsuo Aoyagi) features deluxe food stations and sleek finishes that are anything but old-school or cafeteria-style. USA Todayhas called it “one of Las Vegas’ best buffets.”

The new Mayfair Supper Club at the Bellagio (created with the Martin Brudnizki Design Studio) oozes old-school glamour and sophistication in a destination where patrons can dine and be seen.

And new food courts at TI (Treasure Island) and Circus Circus elevate fast-casual with dining spaces that encourage patrons to linger beyond the graband-go.

In record numbers, sports fans are heading to sportsbooks to watch and bet on their favorite teams. Two BWA projects, The Book and RE:MATCH sports betting lounges are anything but your dad’s sports bar. They bring new types and generations of customers for camaraderie over a shared love of sports, with stylized betting kiosks, large-screen TVs, virtual reality and interactive gaming, as well as food and drink service.

In addition to state-of-the-art sports betting options, The Book, Caesars Entertainment’s sports lounge at the LINQ Las Vegas, offers non-gaming entertainment like a wall of self-serve beer taps, a fast-casual food truck, fan caves and various seating configurations.

The family-friendly attraction FlyOver Las Vegas features pre-show areas that set the stage for immersing patrons into the multi-sensory journey ready to unfold before them. FlyOver’s BWA-designed Lost Cactus bar and lounge captures the spirit of the Western U.S. that is central to the experience.

In 2011, late BWA co-founder and chairman Joel Bergman told Global Gaming Business, “We no longer call ourselves gaming architects. All along, we’ve really been in the entertainment business.” His words ring especially true today, as the gaming and entertainment industries continue their comeback.

BWA Principal-in-Charge John Hinton could not agree more. “The pause caused by the pandemic provided the opportunity to reassess future facility plans and priorities, and of course, to plan to wow customers when they returned.

“BWA is pleased we’ve been able to help our clients deliver on special spaces that make patrons excited about going out again, and which symbolize that dining and entertainment are back and better than ever.”

Rocking in the Heartland

Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana • Gary, Indiana

PHOTO CREDIT: © JEFFREY TOTARO, 2021

Music royalty came out in force last May to mark the grand opening of the new Hard Rock Northern Indiana, owned by Spectacle Entertainment and operated by Hard Rock International.

Members of the legendary Jackson 5 were on hand for the traditional guitarsmashing ceremony, after which the doors opened to an all-new state-of-the-art entertainment center.

Located in Gary, Indiana, near the South Shore of Lake Michigan, Hard Rock brings world-class gaming to the Hoosier State, and the first land-based casino to Indiana’s northwest gaming corridor. SOSH Architects, the architect of record and exterior design lead, collaborated with interior designers the Friedmutter Group on a vision for the property, which serves up Hard Rock style at every turn.

Spanning 215,000 square feet, the new property offers a gaming floor with 1,600 slot machines and 80 table games. Its five restaurant offerings include the upscale Council Oak Steaks and Seafood, and the signature Hard Rock Café. The complex also features a Hard Rock-branded retail shop and a 2,000-seat cuttingedge entertainment venue, Hard Rock LIVE.

The fun begins at the entryway, where visitors are welcomed by a 37-foot-tall guitar sign, modeled on an instrument owned by Jackson family patriarch Joe Jackson. Inside, they’re greeted by a spectacular guitar chandelier and some 170 pieces of music memorabilia showcased throughout the casino. Gary natives the Jacksons are well represented; guests can view Michael Jackson’s iconic glove and his red leather jacket from the “Beat It” video. Mementoes from other Indiana artists, including John Mellencamp and Axl Rose, are also on display.

“Music is inherent in the brand,” said Jeff Clayton, director of entertainment at Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana, at the grand opening. “The intention is to serve all genres, all types of fans. ‘All Is One’ is part of our motto, and we plan to be very diverse in that context.”

Groundbreaking on the property took place in January 2020, and construction continued throughout the pandemic. The site leaves room for future growth, including a hotel and parking garage.

Greg Gibson, vice president of Spectacle Entertainment, hailed the facility as “a product of much hard work and those who believed the city of Gary was destined for greater things.”

OWNER: Spectacle Entertainment OPERATOR: Hard Rock International ARCHITECT OF RECORD, EXTERIOR DESIGN: SOSH Architects INTERIOR DESIGN: Friedmutter Group CONTRACTOR: TN Ward INVESTMENT: $300 million

Crystal Visions

Crystal Lobby Attraction • Galaxy Macau

Visitors to Galaxy Macau will likely stop in their tracks on entering the resort lobby. Invariably, all eyes are drawn to the centerpiece of the space, a resplendent new Crystal Lobby Attraction, created by experiential design leader the Hettema Group.

Crafted of 360,000 pieces of Bohemian crystal, the animated, kinetic structure features 32 dancing fountains, eight leaping water jets, a vast moving ceiling of 24 overlapping crystal-clad petals, and 12 rotating crystal chandeliers, all synchronized to original music.

Galaxy Macau demanded an attraction of this magnitude. The palatial resort, steps from Old Taipa Village on the Cotai Strip, spans 5.9 million square feet. It is known for luxurious, sometimes over-the-top appointments, including a Grand Resort Deck with the world’s largest Sky Wave Pool, as well as Skytop Adventure Rapids and a white-sand beach.

To create the attraction, the California-based Hettema Group used 360,000 pieces of crystal with 720,000 fixing pins, all of which were applied by hand. It took approximately 12,500 hours (about 520 days) to affix the individual pieces to the main attraction. The effect is unexpected, stunning, and simply breathtaking. The spectacular attraction is bound to be one of the most photographed and shared features of this five-star resort.

OPERATOR: Galaxy Entertainment Group DESIGNER: The Hettema Group DEBUTED: December 2021

Local Legend

Live! Casino & Hotel Philadelphia • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The first two new casino properties in Pennsylvania to open amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic are owned by Baltimore-based Cordish Companies. The first was a satellite casino, Live! Pittsburgh, in the Westmoreland Mall in Western Pennsylvania. The second, which opened February 11, is the Cordish flagship in the state, Live! Casino & Hotel Philadelphia.

Many of the basic design and amenity offerings of the new hotel-casino follow the lead of Cordish’s Live! Casino & Hotel Maryland, opened seven years earlier. That includes elements like the R Bar, a sports-oriented electronic table game area, and the Sports & Social brand of sports bar.

However, Live! Philadelphia is a totally unique project, thanks in large part to its dedication to the local market—and more specifically, to Philly sports. The casino is located in the heart of Philadelphia’s Stadium District, where the arenas and stadiums of all the city’s professional sports teams are located within a few blocks of each other.

The new casino-hotel reflects this, with references to the city’s sports teams throughout, including the Sports & Social brand wrapped around the Cordish FanDuel Sportsbook concept—sports wagering in a best-in-class sports bar, featuring a 500-foot-long LED screen and different styles of entertainment. There’s even a large foosball table.

But Philadelphia-based BLT Architects went beyond the sports connection to reflect the city in every aspect, from the casino entrance that replicates Robert Indiana’s famous “LOVE” sculpture at the Love Park plaza in downtown Philadelphia to killer views of the city from state-of-the-art hotel rooms.

The 510,000-square-foot Live! Casino & Hotel Philadelphia includes a 100,000-square-foot-plus casino featuring 2,200 slot positions, including 74 electronic table games. There are 121 table games with plans to expand to 150, a dedicated 29-table poker room, a six-room Event Center that includes 15,000 square feet of customizable meeting/entertainment event space, and a variety of food and beverage options that include a number of local favorites.

BLT Architects created a high-energy casino floor, featuring an undulating metal panel ribbon that wraps the casino and garage facades and a metal and glass hotel tower. “The building design is intended to reflect the high energy of the amenities within, provide a strong presence when viewed from the adjacent highways, and present dynamic architectural forms that complement the adjacent large-scale stadiums and arena,” according to the firm’s project description.

Many of the finer details of the restaurants, sports bar and other amenities also benefit from intricate woodwork by Quebec, Canada-based Beaubois. Beaubois woodwork can be seen throughout the signature steakhouse, the Luk Fu Asian restaurant, the distinctive sports bar, and more.

“This includes an extensive range of craftsmanship and materials, from marble countertops in the restaurants and gold-plated Chinese characters integrated into custom furniture,” Beaubois stated in its project description, “to a remarkable oval-shaped rustic larch bar and leather booths in both restaurants and the back-of-house... In the bars and back-bars, copper, glass and brass accents create a dramatic look and feature a range of custom finishes and colors.”

Most dining areas showcase high ceilings with rustic larch beams, which Beaubois developed in collaboration with engineers to guarantee their structural stability. Other ceilings brought together by Beaubois feature decorative black steel beams and an acrylic cloudscape.

The project incorporated an extensive array of materials, finishes, colors, and techniques.

OWNER: The Cordish Companies ARCHITECT: BLT Architects WOODWORK: Beaubois GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Gilbane Building Company PROJECT COST: $700 million INTERIOR DESIGN: Klai Juba Architects, Jeffrey Beers International and Hirsch Bedner Associates