Wynning in Glass Vegas

Mark Meshulam — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:56:10 +0000

The Wynn and Encore Hotels in Las Vegas

Las Vegas rarely provides a truly relaxing vacation – there’s just too much to do and see! Try being a construction guy or a window dude like yours truly, and the mind’s eye never gets any rest whatsoever. My “vacation” last week at the truly amazing Wynn Hotel provided such a visual feast, such a highly refined sense of design, and such an adroit mastery of construction, that the more I looked, greater became my admiration, and the less my relaxation.

Highest compliments to what must have been an army of architects and designers. They have obviously expended many man-years creating a wonderfully unique yet coherent experience.

Whereas a typical Vegas hotel design concept could be described as: “cover every square inch of floor, ceiling and wall with gaudy shmuntz”, the Wynn carves its own path. Here the design concept seems to be “cover every square inch of floor, ceiling and wall with really beautiful stuff, wonderfully coordinated, to create visually exciting – and welcoming – environments. ”

The Wynn and Encore at Las Vegas
General Contractor & Construction Manager: Marnell Corrao Associates
Architect of Record for Show Venues: Marnell Corrao Associates
Architecture: Butler/Ashworth Architects and Wynn Design & Development
Interior Design: Roger Thomas of Wynn Design & Development, Todd-Avery Lenahan of ABA Design Studio, and HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates
Curtainwall: Enclos Corporation

Aerial view of the Wynn and Encore. I couldn't even rest on the airplane.

Given my speciality I could not help but notice the wonderfully varied use of glass. Let’s start with the exterior facade, an elegant unitized curtainwall segmented at a radius so broad that it reads as one smooth sweeping curve. The two hotels are nearly identical, and they are placed at an intriguing angle to one another, creating warm, glassy spaces interesting from any angle.

Wynn curtainwall dancing with the sunlight

The glass is dark bronze insulated with a high performance Low-E coating on the #2 surface. The color is somewhat chameleon, sometimes reading nearly black, sometimes glowing a rich brown or copper. This is probably due a moderately reflective nature of the Low-E coating. As the sky and weather change, so changes the glass, but subtly. Creme colored slab covers create sleek horizontal lines at every other floor. All other mullion expressions are dark to blend with the glass.

The glass did a great job of reducing solar heat gain as the afternoon desert sun shone right into my window. Although it was bright in the room during the afternoon, I would not have traded for a darker glass, agreeing with the specifiers that the excellent daytime view should not be obstructed. To that end, the glass runs full height, floor to ceiling.

Floor to ceiling glass brings the outside in.

I felt somehow proud that glass and metal could be made to express such a broad range of impressions, especially when artfully coupled with other materials such as fabric, stone and light.

Skylights on the roof at the Wynn Hotel. How many can you count?

Speaking of light, natural light is arguably one of the most powerful design elements a building can utilize. Sunlight is much brighter than typical electric lighting. Sunlight adds richness by bringing out color and by connecting people with the outdoors. Designers of The Wynn took these ideas to heart by creating experience after experience where sunlight is brought indoors through the use of glass.

The skylight at the Wynn buffet. With this type of environment, the old, trashy image of a Vegas buffet will be blown out of your memory banks forever.

Detail at Wynn Buffet skylight. An elaborate birdcage of metal grillwork is built within and beneath the skylight, creating a cascade of light.

Time after time, the Wynn designers don’t stop at simply providing skylights. They then go on to add one or more layers of texture, color or pattern to further play with the light and squeeze every last photon out of it for environmental effect.

Complex, beautiful details like this abound at The Wynn. This skylight extends up and over a soffit wrapping the perimeter of the Parasol Up bar. The effect is amplified by the use of mirrors at the right side of the skylight.

At the Wynn, flawless execution of difficult geometric shapes rendered in glass and other materials appear as if they were created effortlessly.

Another example where natural light is the starting point, then other elements are added to enrich the visitor experience. Skylight glass is patterned, a trellis diffuses the light while allowing the glass pattern to be seen, and deeply colorful glass lamps punctuate the space.

Glass and metal combine to create an exciting private enclosure for the losing of ones life savings.

Interest is added through the use of tassles, and the omission of glass in the area immediately surrounding the urn shape.

A stroll down any corridor yields surprises in decor and color.

Mirrors used in cabinets amplify colors and textures.

Draperies, mirrors and glass ornamentation provide for an entertaining stroll.

A near-infinite array of light fixtures make free use of glass and mirrors to further shape the appearance of light.

A grand portal to a glorious outdoor space is graced with a point-supported curtainwall with structural glass mullions and highly polished chrome fittings.

The Louis Vuitton storefront in the Wynn retail esplanade. The highly stylized glass wall appears to be composed of hundreds of glass cylinders suspended in holes in a vertical sheet of glass. One wonders if illegal substances were utilized in the creation of this design.

The Dior store in the retail esplanade. Here, a pattern screened onto the back of the glass is repeated on a background a few inches behind the glass, producing a changing Moire pattern as you walk by. In this case, the designers seem to want the visitor to feel as if he is using illegal substances.

The Chanel store doesn't try to provide a psychadelic experience, but rather the experience of wealth, however vicarious that might be. The storefront glass is backed by a rich, golden (what else?) fabric seen enlarged at the upper right. Interior partitions consist of two layers of a beautiful open weave fabric, sandwiched between three lites of glass. The separation between the fabric layers give the pattern life as you walk by.

Intimate apparel purveyor Black & Satin strives for an intimate, sexy look. They use a grapevine pattern deeply etched into the front and back of the glass doors. I found these doors...um... stimulating.

The Wing Lei restaurant used the same idea - etch a pattern into the glass doors. This time, the effect was different. By adding a brass color into the etching, the pattern became an extension of the other brass portions of the door frames and handles.

This elaborate and beautiful entrance to the Alex Restaurant uses a diamond pattern cross hatching cut into the glass. This simple treatment greatly enhances the overall design.

Interior of the Alex Restaurant. The cross-hatch pattern is also used on the exterior glass, unifying the design and further gracing the space with a patterned glow of light. Couldn't afford to eat here.

In the Encore retail corridor, the In Step store kicks up its heels with a curved, rolling, heavy glass pair of doors.

Next door, the Botero Restaurant uses a stylized interlayer in the laminated glass, in doors, sidelites and the revolving door leafs and enclosure.

Across Sands Avenue, in the Palazzo, Barneys creates an upbeat and uplifting environment by placing colorful backlit patterns behind the glass in display walls and counter bases.

Want to do something unusual with glass?

Mark Meshulam, Chicago Window Expert enjoying the Wynn experience

For the expert attention you deserve, call:

Mark Meshulam,
Chicago Window Expert

My phone: 847-945-9200 ext 229
My email: mark@chicagowindowexpert.com

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Wynning in Glass Vegas