Tao Beach , Venetian Las Vegas
Pechanga
Paradise City
Genting Group , Mirage Resorts , Bally ’ s , Pinnacle Entertainment , Diamond Resorts International , Boyd Gaming , MGM Resorts International , Caesars Entertainment Corp ., Las Vegas Sands Corp ., Station Casinos and others .
Lifescapes also designed the iconic 4.5-mile Las Vegas Boulevard National Scenic Byway for Clark County , encouraging all property owners ’ participation starting with the early concept phases . The investment in the Las Vegas Strip is seamless and well integrated , a benefit of involving all stakeholders from the beginning .
Building a Reputation
Working in an international tourist destination like Las Vegas benefited Lifescapes in other ways . Visitors saw Lifescapes ’ work in the city , and the firm soon began designing numerous luxuriant gardens for clients in the Far East and elsewhere . That resulted in Lifescapes working on large-scale hotels , residential communities and mixed-use projects in more than 20 cities in the People ’ s Republic of China . Most of the developments are similar to projects in Las Vegas ; Lifescapes has become the go-to expert for designing gardens atop subterranean parking structures .
With the expansion of gaming in Macau , Las Vegas Sands Corp . hired Lifescapes International to provide landscape design services for the Venetian ( the firm also worked on Sands ’ Venetian and Palazzo properties in Las Vegas ) and the Four Seasons Macau , with Wynn Resorts bringing the firm on to work on the Wynn Cotai Palace , and MGM asking Lifescapes to help with its property in Cotai .
Other work followed , including the Paradise City Integrated Resort and Casino in South Korea for Paradise Hotels / Sega Sammy Holdings . The development opened in May 2017 .
Lifescapes International has worked with notable architectural firms including Bergman Walls & Associates , Cuningham Group , Delawie Architects & Planners , Friedmutter Group , Gensler , Klai Juba , KGA Architecture , Paul Steelman Partners , SOSH Architects and others .
The firm continues to innovate . Lifescapes was one of the first , if not the first , to see the added profit potential of expansive water activities , says Joe Emanuele , senior vice president of design and construction for Hard Rock International in Orlando , who was introduced to Lifescapes when he was working in Las Vegas for the Friedmutter Group .
“ I collaborated with Don and his team on the Pool at Harrah ’ s in Atlantic City , which was a game-changer ,” Emanuele recalls . “ It was this beautiful dome and pool . Lifescapes created a striking environment that even today is quite amazing — a tropical environment indoors that can be enjoyed year-round . Nothing like that had been created of that magnitude before . Lifescapes built a
Golden Nugget Lake Charles
model of the entire pool and dome . The project instantly became an amazing attraction for that property and for Atlantic City .”
Lifescapes also created iconic landscapes in Atlantic City for the Borgata , the Water Club , Harrah ’ s and Bally ’ s Wild Wild West .
“ The inclement weather made it necessary to bring the outside in ,” explains Roger Voettiner , senior executive and vice president of design for the firm . “ We designed enclosed pools and a VIP club pool with exotic interior planting , which included the use of large tropical trees and palms procured from Florida . The concept of expanding the use of the pool area for other events during evening hours soon became a popular and profitable trend across the country .”
Building on those ideas , Lifescapes designed Tao Beach at the Venetian for Las Vegas Sands , Encore Beach Club ( with Roger Thomas of Wynn Design and Development ) at Encore and numerous other water activities at other casino resort properties including Downtown Las Vegas , Lake Charles and Baton Rouge , Louisiana , among others . These “ party pools ” continue to evolve , with many new water activities offered in such places as Station Casinos ’ Palms .
At the same time , the firm continues working on new casino projects nationally and internationally , including Wilton Rancheria Elk Grove Resort near Sacramento , California , with Boyd Gaming , and several other Native American projects and casino resorts in the U . S . and overseas .
One of the reasons the firm has been successful around the world is its keen
16 CASINO STYLE 2018