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Morongo Casino Sees the Light03-29-06 | News



Morongo Casino Sees the Light
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A Conversation Between Dawn Hollingsworth, LC, IALD, Managing Design Principal, Eileen Thomas, LC, Associate Principal, Lisa Passamonte Green, VP and Principal Designer and Matt Levesque, Senior Project Designer, of the Visual Terrain team.






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All photographs in this article were taken by Tom Paiva, a California-based photographer who has had his own business for 15 years. He specializes in architectural photography and can be reached at 888-504-8373. For more information, please visit www.TomPaiva.com


Award-winning lighting design and theatrical consulting firm Visual Terrain, Inc., had just completed lighting the Morongo Casino Resort and Spa in Cabazon, CA, near Palm Springs. They worked closely with The Jerde Partnership, architects, to complete the project. The exteriors required some special considerations.

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Dawn Hollingsworth said, ?EUR??,,????'?????<






The design team figured out what the concept would be, and then they choose fixtures that are not particularly risky as far as maintenance is concerned. They chose fixtures that were designed for the application in which they would be used, and then chose lamps that have long lamp life so they wouldn?EUR??,,????'?????<


Elegant Solutions

The success of the project hinged in part on a computer animatic (an animated rendering) of the project The Jerde Partnership architects produced for the client at the beginning of the project. Almost as soon as they viewed the animatic, the Visual Terrain team began both analyzing the needs of the project, and developing personal attachments to certain aspects of it. ?EUR??,,????'?????<

What made the project tough for everyone was the speed with which it was executed: from initial design meeting to opening was only 23 months. ?EUR??,,????'?????<

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Complex Challenges

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In certain areas they lowered the poles to 20 feet in height, and then from there, the direct road to the porte-cochere is lit by bollards, which illuminate the roadway path for the guests. The bollards are about 40 inches tall, so they aren?EUR??,,????'?????<


Magically Natural

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It was the first time VisualTerrain had ever down lit an entire fa?????ade with fixtures mounted on top of the building and shining down the building in this fashion. As a result, the team was really very conscious of where the casino was located and what the dark-sky ordinances mighty be.


Stargazing & Harmony

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Typically, porte-cochere?EUR??,,????'?????<


Responsible Practices

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Inspired by its location in the picturesque mountain ranges, wind and water carved canyons and desert sunshine, the new casino is an architectural and illumination tribute to the California desert. The color palette is specifically restricted to those colors found in the natural light of sunset, sunrise and daylight.


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Relative to the environment, the tower is huge. It truly creates its own skyline and as a result, a lot of the team?EUR??,,????'?????<


Morongo Casino Resort and Spa

Client
Morongo Band of Mission Indians

Design Architect
The Jerde Partnership

Executive Architect
Thalden Boyd Architects

Landscape Design
Jerde Landscape

Executive Landscape Architects
LRM Landscape Architecture

Lighting Design
Visual Terrain

Electrical Engineer
RHR Consulting Engineers

Civil Engineer
RBF Consulting

Construction Consultant
SJ Enterprises

Contractor
Perini Building Company

Graphics Designer
Selbert Perkins Design Collaborative

Interior Design
Hirsch Bedner Associates

Mechanical Engineers
FEA Consulting Engineers

Structural Engineer
John A Martin & Associates

Water Feature Designer
Fluidity


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