探索富麗堂皇的娛樂場
ENCORE BOSTON HARBOR REVEALS TWO GRAND GAMING FLOORS IN ONE FRESH NEW DESIGN.
Encore Boston Harbor的兩層娛樂場以別具一格的新穎設計示人。
For one of his final Wynn projects before retiring at the end of the year, Executive Vice President of Wynn Design & Development Roger Thomas worked with protégé Alex Woogmaster on what is in many ways the most untraditional Wynn casino to date: Encore Boston Harbor, the brand’s first two-story casino. “It was a really big deal because we’ve always believed in having intimacy, high energy and joy at every turn,” says Woogmaster, WDD's creative director. “Which is much harder to maintain over multiple floors. The challenge was to design a space where there was gaming on two levels, and which was obviously very grand, but still felt quite intimate.”
To encourage shared energy between downstairs and up, Thomas and Woogmaster designed mezzanine levels and a series of peninsulas that also allowed for variations in ceiling height—important for airflow and aesthetics, but also security. The two levels are connected by what Thomas calls “the grandest of grand spiral staircases,” while Juliet balconies allow for those in the high-roller rooms to survey the casino floor below. Custom-designed fringed lampshades that hang low over table games are meant to help make players feel instantly at home; Thomas cites a study in which, he says, “if you have a chandelier over a table, it feels like your table, instead of just a table.” Lighting, in fact, plays a key role throughout. Clusters of red Murano chandeliers—the color chosen to complement the Jacques Garcia carpeting also found in Wynn Las Vegas—create a sort of faux recessed ceiling, while octagonal lanterns made of acrylic painted to look like linen, with Fornace glass detailing, cast “a kind of candlelit glow,” Woogmaster says. “We
believe firmly in the power of side lighting.” Horizontally-textured wall coverings made from bronze mylar, designed by Thomas and made by Koroseal, proved more durable than silk while also fostering a sort of groundedness. “I think humans have a natural affinity for horizontal landscape lines,” Thomas says. “I like to give everybody a feeling of sitting down.”
But this did not mean underselling the classic Wynn wow-factor. As Thomas says, “We wanted this to be a truly breathtaking hotel, so the lobby is kind of a ‘gasp’ and we wanted the casino to be a ‘gasp.’” The addition of doors—unusual in casino design but necessary in order to comply with Massachusetts state law—helps heighten guest anticipation, while also giving the designers the opportunity to play with hardware. In addition to art from Uzbek nomadic weavers that’s consistent with other Wynn properties, the second-floor poker room is decorated with custom murals by longtime Wynn collaborators Evans & Brown, the final pieces Brown created before his death last year. Jim Thompson draperies framing the poker room also serve to delight, even though they remain open most of the time. “They’re a kind of idyllic countryside print that we fell in love with,” says Thomas. “When they’re unfolded, they’re way too traditional. But they’ll never be unfolded. We just love little secrets like this.”