Resorts World Las Vegas is a massive resort that includes three separate Hilton hotels—Las Vegas Hilton, Conrad Las Vegas and Crockfords Las Vegas—totaling 3,500 rooms, a more than 117,000-sq.-ft. casino floor, a 5,000-capacity concert and entertainment venue and approximately 70,000 sq. ft. of retail space called The District.
Setting up the lighting for this immense property was quite the undertaking. Shop12 Design, a full-service lighting and visual feature studio specializing in the creative design of performance venues and custom visual features, along with architectural firm Steelman Partners, chose to use lighting as a means to link all of the public and retail areas in the World East and West Towers, all public areas, hallways, elevator foyers and the spa.
The two companies brought in a challenge rep agency, Alive Enterprises, which believed Tivoli Lighting was able to deliver the solution.
“The biggest challenge was to create a wide line of light which can house RGBW to be evenly lit, using three various applications including surface mounted, recessed and suspended lighting,” said David Alayev, president, Alive Enterprises, who added that Tivoli Lighting products were used in the all of the corridors throughout the resort; cove, closet, headboard and bathroom under cabinets in the guestrooms; and liner-line RGBW lighting in the retail area.
Luke Olson, lighting designer, Shop12 Design, pointed out that the companies tackled the enormous lighting project by breaking it into pieces.
“Each space has its own story and its own contribution to the overall story,” he said. “[We had to] communicate and collaborate to make sure that spaces that want to feel related do so smoothly and efficiently, and that spaces that stood on difference had clear and elegant contrasts.”
Alayev added, “Using various light levels and a combination of direct and indirect lighting and general illumination makes the space bright and inviting.”
Among the Tivoli products used was RGB+W TivoTape, which has a tight pitch 3535 LED package with a two-step MacAdam Ellipse for defined color consistency and reliability. The tape light features tight on-center LED spacing with a dedicated 3000K chip for precise color, which is necessary for the lighting schemes at Resorts World. The low voltage (24V DC) tape light is dimmable with DMX protocol and compatible with Tivoli’s CUEpro software. In addition, RGB+W TivoTape has an eXo shield covered for added protection against simple wipe-downs with no yellowing over time.
Naturally, the lighting in the different areas of the resort has its own warmth and brightness.
“The casino is very warm and very ambient, aside from the gaming table spotlights and special features; the gaming is ensconced in pleasant warmth,” said Olson. “The biggest contrast is with The District, and it’s continuously changing RGBW lighting that draws attention outward—first to the lights themselves and then beyond them to the shops and restaurants, the globe and other art elements.”
He noted that the biggest challenge for him was the length of the project. “Resorts World had a fairly lengthy journey,” said Olson. “Among other things the capability of LED lighting grew enormously between the beginning and the end. The time allowed a lot of evolution—which is good because it was current to the owner’s wants and needs when it opened—and challenging because changes made at one point along the way could run into assumptions made quite sometime before.”
For Alayev, the biggest challenge “was to create a wide line of light which can house RGBW (W=3000K) to be evenly lit, using three various applications (surface mounted, recessed and suspended). Also, in a few areas, like the theater, it also had to curve using specific diameters to create a lazy curve.”
He added that he’s gotten positive feedback on the end result. ” Everyone who has been to Resorts World loves how the lighting creates the atmosphere in the space,” said Alayev. “Using lighting which can be tuned to any color and any tone provided infinite possibilities for the client. It can be programmed to do anything and create various scenes throughout the year.”
