The Hospitality Issue

In advance of the Hospitality Design Expo in Las Vegas next month, this issue of The Source features a look at the Wynn Las Vegas Resort and Casino and Lamin-Art's contribution to this one-of-a-kind project.  We'll also discuss an important consideration when specifying for public spaces: fire-rated material.  If you're heading to the HD Expo, be sure to stop by booth #1449 and see our new Alchemy Collection.

Rolling the Dice: A Creative Use of HPL in the Wynn Las Vegas

The Wynn Las Vegas Resort and Casino opened with much fanfare in April of 2005.  Featuring such first-class amenities as the Wynn Golf and Country Club, magnificent views of the Las Vegas strip, suites with private massage rooms, a private lake and mountain, and it's own  Ferrari-Maserati car dealership, it's no wonder the resort is the only casino in the world to have the Mobil 5 Star and AAA 5 Diamond rating.  Translating such opulence to the casino floor, where functionality and durability are as important as the ambiance, required some ingenuity on the part of Roger Thomas and the Wynn Design and Development team.

A swanky casino floor was achieved through the use of high-end finishes and custom-designed elements from floor to ceiling, including fixtures and casework.  ATMs, pit boss stands, gaming table stands and other casework throughout the resort display intricate inlaid patterns reminiscent of art-deco marquetry, for which Lamin-Art provided standard and custom designs.  While this technique traditionally utilizes real wood veneer, the design team chose to work with Lamin-Art high-pressure decorative laminates both for its selection of realistic-looking premium wood prints, but also for its practicality as a surfacing solution in these high-traffic areas.  The marquetry work on the fixtures features our Zebrawood and Honey Birdseye Maple, while a custom coloration of our bookmatched Swirly Mahogany can be seen on slot machine bases.  In addition our Bronze Ribbon Mahogany has been used on table pedestals.  The inclusion of a narrow piece of black laminate within the marquetry design ensures the design pops even from a distance.  It goes without saying that these pieces were executed with extreme attention to detail.  Our hat's off to the millworkers who achieved masterpieces with each and every single fixture displayed on the casino floor. 

If you're traveling to Las Vegas next month for Hospitality Design 2007, be sure to take a walk across the street from the convention center and check out this outstanding installation and magnificent resort and casino.

Also, take a look at these other outstanding hospitality installations featuring Lamin-Art decorative laminates in our online portfolio:

• Las Vegas Hilton reception desk and casino floor by Cleo Design
• Fortuna Coffee and Wine Bar by Cleo Design
• Local Restaurant by partner & designer Alice Cottrell

Upcoming Shows and Conferences

The 16^th annual HD Expo and Conference will take place May 10-12 at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas.  Once again, Lamin-Art will be on hand to showcase our new Alchemy Collection, a high-wear, textural surface in ten metallic colors at booth #1449.  Show organizers expect this year's HD Expo to be the biggest to date.  We hope to see you there!  

After HD, Lamin-Art will be a presenting sponsor at this year's Color and Material Specifiers Conference presented by Display and Design Ideas Magazine.  The West-Coast version of the annual New York event will take place May 31, 2007 at the Hotel Nikko in San Francisco.  This one-day event focuses on the latest information, trends and products in the color and materials universe for specification in retail environments.  As a presenting sponsor, Lamin-Art will explain how nature and technology are allowing us to push the limits of high-pressure laminate to maximize its visual interest. 

Look for Lamin-Art at these and other great events throughout 2007.

Fire-Rated Materials

When designing casework and furniture for public places such as hotels, office buildings, airports, and institutions like hospitals or schools, it's particularly important to pay attention to the fire codes of the community where the facility is to be built.  Even when it comes to specifying interior finishes such as HPL, combustibility and smoke production need to be considered.  Lamin-Art's standard line of high-pressure decorative laminate is classified as having a Class II or B fire rating. 

Fire-rated test results are typically broken down into a number for flame spread and a number for smoke development.  These numbers are compared to standard benchmarks where dried Red Oak would be considered 100 and incombustible cement board would be zero.  So when you see a Flame Spread of 40, that means that the product exhibits about 40% of the flame spread of Red Oak under the same testing conditions.  Many local fire codes require Class I or A fire-rated construction materials for public places. 

Lamin-Art's laminates can be manufactured to have a Class I or A fire-rating (with the exception of our Abacá and Veneer-Art collections) as a custom-made item.  It is important to note, however, that in order to achieve the low test results your local codes may require special adhesives and fire-rated substrates to be used in the assembly.  For more information about the fire ratings of Lamin-Art high-pressure decorative laminate, consult our Guide to Fire-Rated Material.