Flowing Design - Creative Lighting Design and Engineering

Geography is the focal point for this Oklahoma gambling venue.
FLOWING DESIGN
R
epresenting the landscape
along the South Canadian
River and the northern border
of the Chickasaw Nation, the architectural intention behind Riverwind’s
structure is different from other betting
operations.
“Unlike [many] casinos, which
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are more thematic and focus on a
major city or era in history, Riverwind
is more abstract,” says Nathan Peak,
AIA, lead designer for Memphis-based
Hnedak Bobo Group, the architectural
design firm that designed the 219,000sq.-ft. facility. Established in 1979,
Hnedak Bobo Group has a history of
working closely with Native American
tribes across the country to deliver
specialized hotel, casino, and resort
destinations.
The building was sited on reservation land to provide the best
“billboard” views from an interstate
highway. Tailored to appeal to a mass
CONTRACT LIGHTING  SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2007
Above: The idea of movement is communicated by these custom-made, colorful lighting
fixtures suspended above Riverwind’s main casino floor.
Left: Six Color Kinetics’ LED floodlights illuminate the tower, while a strobe from
High End Systems provides unexpected bright flashes of light.
audience of gaming, entertainment,
and concert enthusiasts, the setting
needed to offer ease of access and
ample parking.
“We gave a nod to the location
of the structure and came up with an
ethereal ‘prairie wind’ concept which
encompasses Oklahoma’s native landscape,” Peak comments. The swoops
at the entry evoke the bend of prairie grasses while the contemporary
sapphire blue façade lays low to the
earth, capturing the beauty of the
environment without overpowering
the indigenous fields.
Unleashing High Energy
The interior, designed by Peak and
Valli Wiggins of Valli Interior Design,
based in Memphis, emulates the 46th
state’s natural surroundings. Cover-
and references to the river.
The design team hired lighting
designer Marty Peck of Creative Lighting & Engineering in Germantown,
Wisc., to bring their vision to fruition.
It was Peck’s responsibility to convey
movement while delineating space
with river and wind iconography
ing one story, the casino floor fans
out from the central Energy Bar and
the expanse is visually divided into
smaller gaming areas by two primary
patterns of light: the depiction of wind
through the use of lighting technology.
For example, the Energy Bar is a
visual vortex amid the wind and water
imagery, and as such it required a
lighting treatment that would express
CONTRACT LIGHTING  SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2007
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Canopies above the poker tables create a
sense of intimacy for the players while adding
excitement through the colored illumination of the wavy, vertical Spline that joins
them. The recessed downlights are dimmable
MR16s with glass trims.
spotlights from High End Systems,
a strobe light near the dome ceiling
of the Energy Bar, and installed a
mirror ball.
vibrancy and excitement.
The goal was to have the bar “radiate colorful energy and intensity that
blends with the wind and river color
palettes,” Peck explains. Programmable LEDs create a timed sequence
of cool (water) and warm (wind) hues
that flow around the area.
“Lighting doesn’t have to be a static
look; it can be very dynamic,” Peck
notes. To further connote the notion of
high energy, he placed 18 robotic HID
Six hidden 275-watt robotic projectors animate the space when they
are aimed at the mirror ball, into the
curtain, or out onto the dome. These
fixtures can rotate, tilt, and project
colors, patterns, images, and video.
The interior dome ceiling is uplit
with PAR38 spotlights located in the
center back-bar with a blend of three
primary colors achievable through
dimmers. The knee-wall surrounding
the bar is uplit from in-floor fixtures
with a color filter that is appropriate
to the surrounding river and wind
palettes.
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To create an atmosphere of fun
and sporadic visual stimulation, Peck
programmed the lighting to have 20minute cycles of soft lighting – perfect
for quiet conversations – and periods
of subtle, sweeping color changes
(the river hues flowing into the wind
palette). Several times an hour, the
robotic spotlights and strobe light
are activated. “The idea was to have
a celebration of lights flashing that
would raise the tempo of the casino
floor,” Peck comments.
Fixture access is gained through
ladder rungs on the center column.
The robotics, bar, and perimeter downlights are DMX-controlled via LPC,
interfaced with an LED controller to
provide six different hourly routines
CONTRACT LIGHTING  SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2007
Color sequencing from programmable
LEDs transforms the Energy Bar from a
cool, river (blue) to a warm, wind (amber)
environment.
in addition to the
more random light
“celebrations” (which
include sound).
While the Energy
Bar is the visual
centerpiece of the
casino, a glass sculpture with a swirl
pattern is the focal
point of the bar. It
is illuminated by six
50-watt programmable LED fixtures
from above and below in pairings
such as magenta-yellow and greenblue. When the lighting changes
color, or the HID fixtures and strobe
light are in full swing, the glass swirls
on the bar’s center column are more
pronounced and magnify the impression of movement.
Images can also be projected onto
the outer wall surface of the Energy
Bar – such as wisps or bubbles – by
employing dimmable 575-watt theat16
rical projectors. The walls may be
highlighted with color-changing LED
spotlights that can be individually
programmed to a specific hue, allowing the entire cone to change color or
for the colors to rotate.
Rimming the perimeter of the Energy Bar is a curtain of metal beads that
is downlit by a ring of track-mounted
MR16 spotlights. These fixtures are
in three separate hues that can be
blended by dimmers so the color of
the entire ring can be selected.
Other spotlights uplight the beaded
curtain to create an additional layer of
colored light.
A Beacon in the Great Outdoors
One of the considerations when illuminating the façade was to take advantage
of Riverwind’s close proximity to I-35.
Peak reports that his group did extensive site studies to determine at which
point the structure would come into
CONTRACT LIGHTING  SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2007
The Energy Bar serves as the hub of the
Riverwind Casino. The use of color-changing
LED lighting and theatrical effects makes it an
incredibly popular spot for visitors.
view for travelers driving along the
north and southbound lanes of the
highway. These findings served as a
even, vertical wash. A colorchanging program choreographs
the light to suggest a river (through
a palette of blue, white, turquoise,
lavender, and cyan that flow leftward
along the swoops to create a sense of
motion) and a color shift to amber,
guide for the lighting design outside.
The design team wanted the exterior to complement the water-and-wind
theme established inside. The challenge was determining how to portray
the abstract themes of a flowing river
and prairie wind. Dramatic flowing
“currents” that weave across the 500ft. façade was the decorative solution.
Each 30'-high “current” is washed
from a continuous row of 13'-long,
30-watt, programmable Color Kinetics
LED fixtures that follow the serpentine curves with simple, end-to-end
120-volt connections aimed up for an
green, orange, blue, and yellow to
convey a blowing prairie wind.
“We didn’t just want to do riverwind, river-wind sequencing,” Peck
notes. “We wanted people to see
something different.” This lighting
designer didn’t want the flow of light
to be so predictable that it would go
unnoticed by those who routinely
drive by the casino. He finished off the
color sequencing with an unexpected
flurry of bold colors like a fireworks
finale before it fades away and the
program starts anew.
Peck also installed six Color Kinet-
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ics floodlights and a High End Systems
strobe light on top of a 85'-high pylon
with a video screen. This tower serves
as a beacon that can be seen from one
mile away or more.
“Our lighting firm pays attention
to tempo with lighting. The random
flashes that occur from the strobe are
our little gotcha. What makes it fun
is that it’s random,” Peck says. “If you
see a little light celebration once in a
while, it gets your attention.”
“The kinetic lighting gives the
building a different look day and night
while emulating the energy inside the
casino,” Peak says. “The lights also
mimic the motion of cars traveling
along the interstate.”
Approaching the entrance, continuity is maintained by color-changing
HID drive-over uplights from Martin
Architectural. These bathe the porteCONTRACT LIGHTING  SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2007
RESOURCES
PROJECT: Riverwind Casino,
Goldsby, Oklahoma
CLIENT: Chickasaw Nation of
Oklahoma
PROJECT TEAM: Hnedak
Bobo Group, Memphis, Tenn.;
Rick Gardner, AIA, principalin-charge; Danny Valle, AIA,
project manager; Nathan Peak,
AIA, lead architectural/interior designer; Craig Conrad,
AIA, interiors director; Rodger
Conine, project architect;
Palmer Bartlett, production
manager; Michael Hammond,
Rob Huserik, and Tony Rubino,
production team
CONSULTANTS:
Valli Design Studio, Memphis,
interior design, Valli Wiggins,
interior designer
Creative Lighting Design &
Engineering, Germantown,
Wisc., lighting designer/consultant, Marty Peck, lead lighting
designer
Uzun & Case Engineers,
Atlanta, structural engineering
Harwood Engineering Consultants, Milwaukee, mechanical,
electrical, and plumbing
engineering
The concepts of “river” and “wind” are expressed on the Riverwind Casino’s façade, as Color Kinetics’ LED fixtures simulate
the movement of water and grasses through programmed
color-changing effects.
cochere with flowing colors, while the
façades are washed by blue-discharge
HID floodlights.
“We were excited to work on a project that allowed us to incorporate the
latest design elements in casino architecture and be creative with [them],”
says Danny Valle, AIA, a project manager with Hnedak Bobo. “The result is a
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facility that’s not only unique within the
casino industry, but that is distinctive
and characteristic of Oklahoma.
“Whether you go to Riverwind for
the games or concerts – or perhaps you
are driving by on your way to and from
work – you will appreciate the aesthetics because it pays tribute to the local
landscape and hints at the adventure
going on inside. Certainly, the architectural details separate this facility from
others in the state and throughout the
region,” he adds. 
WJHW, Dallas, acoustical/audio
and visual/theatrical
David Carter Graphic Design
Associates, Dallas, graphic
design/signage
GENERAL CONTRACTOR:
Centex Construction, Dallas
PHOTOGRAPHER:
Rick Bostick/PhotoDesign,
Memphis
CONTRACT LIGHTING  SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2007