Casino Design ’ s annual roundtable with design and construction experts
Wynn Las Vegas
2015 PANEL OF EXPERTS
Dike Bacon , Principal , Development Leader / Director of Planning and Business Development , Hnedak Bobo Group
DeRuyter Butler , Executive Vice President of Architecture , Wynn Design & Development
Rich Emery , President & Design Principal , Thalden Boyd Emery Architects
Paul Heretakis , Vice President , Westar Architects
Tom Hoskins , Vice President , Founding Principal , Cuningham Group
Bob Kelly , Senior Vice President-Pre-Construction , Roy Anderson Construction
Andrew Kreft , Executive Senior Principal / Director of Design , Lifescapes International , Inc .
Patrick Murphy , President , Pechanga Development Corporation
Stephen Ranck , Southwest Hospitality Practice Area Leader , Gensler
Richard ( Dick ) Rizzo , Vice Chairman , Tutor Perini Building Corp .
Paul Steelman , CEO , Steelman Partners Full bios on page 40
E ach year , Casino Design magazine gathers a group of experts in the field to talk about issues that impact their discipline . For this year ’ s edition , moderator Julie Brinkerhoff Jacobs , the president and chief financial officer of Lifescapes International ,
1
Inc ., focuses on the crucial subject of non-gaming amenities .
With gaming revenues flat or declining , casino resorts are struggling to decide what nongaming amenities their guests would prefer and how to tap into this lucrative market .
How can casino operators increase the proportion of nongaming revenues using the amenities that already exist ?
HERETAKIS : Consider other uses for the spaces during hours they may be closed . More focused marketing to specific age groups that don ’ t currently frequent those amenities can expose them to new customers . Re-invent , re-focus and re-introduce is the key .
HOSKINS : One of the most important ways we help our clients succeed is by creating a mindset of realizing the potential of every space . We design spaces within the resort that can serve and function in a variety of experiences so that lobbies , pools , patios , gazebos , cabanas , pre-function spaces , convention spaces and the like are designed for multiple configurations . Engaging these spaces and making them “ rentable ” increases non-gaming revenues and diversifies the resort ’ s amenities to guests and the larger community . In the end , it ’ s about casinos creating multi-use spaces .
KELLY : The hotel room has always been a place where the gamblers could sleep in between all the excitement of the casino floor and the showroom . No more . In today ’ s competitive markets , guest rooms are as much of an attraction as the
34 CASINO DESIGN 2015