Casinos Place Their Bets on Waterjet-Fabricated Floor Designs
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It is no accident that some of the most elegant and luxurious lobbies are found in world-class casinos. “Casinos should seduce us with a sense of magnificence,” says Roger Thomas, who designed the Bellagio in Las Vegas.
There’s even research to prove that people relax and spend more when welcomed by opulent settings. “People tend to take on the characteristics of a room,” Thomas says. “They feel glamorous in a glamorous space and rich in a rich space.”
In their quest to create magnificent lobby floors, casino architects are turning to waterjet-fabricated medallions and whole-floor designs.
“Waterjet technology fuels the imagination of the designer, because your options are virtually unlimited,” says Jim Belilove, CEO of Creative Edge Master Shop. “It allows you to cut intricate shapes in multiple colors and multiple materials, including durable stone and marble. If you can imagine it, you can create it.”
Belilove should know. Creative Edge, which he founded in 1986 in tiny Fairfield, IA, pioneered the use of waterjet technology for architectural functions. Their reputation spread and — spinning the wheel forward twenty-five years — today their award-winning creations grace the floors of five-star hotels, embassies, convention centers, airports, villas, palaces, luxury private residences — and casino lobbies — worldwide.
A Tour of Luxurious Casino Floors
Waterjet work can be seen as spectacular visuals in casino lobbies across the country, with each unique design fabricated using state-of-the-art waterjet technology.
Caesar’s Palace Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas
This elegant natural marble floor was Creative Edge’s first casino commission. Fabricated in 1992, to this day it remains an enduring icon of grace and beauty.
“A beautifully crafted marble floor will last as long as the building,” notes Belilove, “making it a sound investment in art and durability.”
The Rivers Casino, Pittsburgh
Located in Pittsburgh’s newly revived riverfront, this 2009 showpiece features an undulating glass façade that takes advantage of panoramic river views, the downtown skyline, and natural light.
The theme of water and light is continued in the contemporary interior design. Creative Edge’s designer Annie Aalto created a free-form, whole-floor design featuring flowing ribbons of flamboyant Red Onyx and Indus Gold natural marble that dance beneath a light-pulsating chandelier called The Drum. The result is a warm, playful and celebratory effect.
Binion’s Horseshoe Hotel and Casino, Las Vega
Commissioned to design the floors of the card rooms that host the yearly World Series of Poker, Creative Edge fabricated the series’ emblem in three different materials: granite, brass and quartz. “Waterjet’s cutting precision allows brass to be inlaid into granite and quartz,” says Belilove. “Multiple materials can be combined in an artistic design.”
The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
This dazzling new installation features a geometric design of interlocking rings in 10,000 square-feet of brilliant, durable and cost-effective terrazzo floors. “Casino floors have to be unique and visually pleasing, but they also have to be extremely durable and easy to maintain as there is such a high volume of pedestrian traffic,” notes Mark Balogh, president of ArCon, the design firm that designed the floor. “Finding the right materials that set a casino floor apart from the competition, maintaining design integrity and being practical and cost effective are key.”
Rancho Graton, Sonoma County, California
Twenty-eight giant hibiscus flowers realized in brightly colored terrazzo sets a lively theme for this Native American casino’s floor. “We’ve found that waterjet technology is equally useful in creating designs in terrazzo,” says Belilove. “Using waterjet to fabricate the metal forms and patterns for use in the terrazzo tile industry has opened up a new level of creativity in terrazzo flooring,” says Belilove.
New York, New York Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas
The waterjet process is equally at home fabricating medallions and whole-floor designs in resilient materials. For the New York New York Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, luxury vinyl was incorporated in a series of colorful medallions to direct visitors to the roller coaster. The result is a highly detailed and colorful signage emblem that entices children and adults alike to follow the arrows. “Today, with thousands of colors and dozens of resilient flooring materials available—from VCT to luxury vinyl to rubber to cork—there is literally nothing to limit a designer’s vision,” says Belilove.
An Update on Waterjet
Waterjet technology forces 50,000 pounds of pressures of water through 1/8-inch tubes before it emerges from a tiny head of sapphire, ruby or diamond as a micro-cutting tool. The water is mixed with an abrasive, usually powdered garnet.
“The tiny stream of water looks harmless, but it could cut off your hand,” says Belilove.
“When we started back in the 80s, waterjet technology was being used for cutting windshields, metals and food: frozen pizza, olives, and green beans. It occurred to us that this could be a great thing for architectural finish material.”
Indeed, the high-pressure water cuts through the most brittle of floor materials—such as glass, stone, ceramic tile, marble, travertine, limestone and granite in slabs up to 3 inches thick—as precisely as a laser. And because the heat is carried off by the water, waterjet can slice stainless steel, aluminum, copper and bronze without warping, burning or oxidation.
Looking back on 25 years of waterjet design, fabrication, and innovation, Belilove says, “By pushing the envelope Creative Edge spearheaded the use of inlaid stone and metals in floors. Yet it was the waterjet technology that made it possible to create such grand and elaborate floors for casino lobbies.”
