Often imitated but never duplicated, world-renowned casino architect Paul Steelman—who makes a return appearance to the Asian Gaming 50 – 2009—continues questioning the received wisdom on casino design
Paul Steelman has become the go-to guy for Asian casino operators seeking to create crowd-pulling properties. His first big gaming splash in the region was the Sands Macao, which opened in May 2004 at an initial cost of US$265 million, and though followed by a string of billion-dollar-plus properties in the city, still packs in the crowds throughout the weeks.
Inside Asian Gaming agrees with Mr Steelman’s claim that Sands Macao “still has the most energy of any casino here,” despite being built in a hurry to ensure it was the first post-monopoly casino to open in Macau, and on an odd-shaped plot of land.
Sands Macao was widely-touted as Macau’s first Vegas-style property, but according to Mr Steelman: “When we created the Sands, we were instructed and decided this, that we did not want to create an American casino. In designing that facility, our goals were to design something new and non-American. ”
“Somehow that message has got a little lost, and many of the [Macau] casino operators have tried to interject American type of gaming into this community. Consequently, some of the other casinos just don’t have the kind of energy that the Sands has.”
Mr Steelman claims the only thing Vegas-style about Sands Macao is its “people-watching excitement.” The inspiration to create a dynamic people-watching space, however, came not from the US, but from Macau, during Mr Steelman’s visit to Macau’s monopoly-era flagship casino, the Lisboa, about nine years ago.
“When I sat down there and gambled one day, I was gambling and these people were watching me. And I said gambling here is more of a spectator sport. That’s why I said we should do the stadium casino. Be that as it may, I didn’t take too much of a chance here. I have high ceilings, and I have middle ceilings, and I have low ceilings.
“I have all the ceiling heights. So if it failed miserably, I still would have been covering my bets. But in order for us to do that we had to invent certain things, like those ‘G-wings’ [which stand above the individual tables and contain lights and surveillance cameras], because it would have been too bright without them. We have a patent on those, by the way.”
Sincerest form of flattery
Inside Asian Gaming has witnessed many elements of Paul Steelman’s designs, particularly those at Sands Macao, imitated around Asia. In Macau, people wandering into former monopoly operator Stanley Ho’s new flagship Macau property, the Grand Lisboa, often observe that its stadium-style main gaming floor resembles the Sands, “with heaps of feng shui elements thrown in.” Even the G-wings above the tables have somehow made their way to the Grand Lisboa main floor.
Meanwhile, casino operators who didn’t manage to enlist Mr Steelman’s services to create the original version of their properties still have the option of calling on him for a revamp. Galaxy Entertainment Group’s main Macau property, StarWorld Hotel & Casino, has been a consistent VIP earner since its opening in October 2006, but its mass revenues have lagged.
The VIP spaces had always been more central to StarWorld’s business model, and given the property’s small plot size, the main gaming floor was constrained. However, keen competition and declining margins in the VIP sector, prompted Macau’s casino operators to redouble their efforts to court mass players. StarWorld’s solution was to commission Mr Steelman to revamp its main gaming floor.
Galaxy proclaimed in an August press release to announce the completion of the revamp: “Every detail has been attended to, from the eye-catching crystal chandeliers to the clean air. To ensure the latter, StarWorld has installed a comprehensive air purifying system, the first of its kind in Macau. Above the gambling tables air is drawn into the system to be filtered, drastically reducing smoke for a clean and clear experience.”
Rocking with jazz
The latest Macau property to be designed from scratch by Mr Steelman’s company, Paul Steelman Design Group (PSDG), is the Hard Rock Casino at Melco Crown Entertainment’s City of Dreams mega resort, which opened 1st June. Mr Steelman comments: “I think it’s kind of unique, in that it’s the first casino in Macau that says it’s going to attract a more youthful audience. It has a lot of jazz. It has a lot of the things that will attract casino customers, and of course, I’m very interested to see how it will work on the basis of these diverse hotels built around it.”
Unfortunately, owing to the slowdown and suspension of construction of several casino projects around Asia, we will have a longer wait to see whether Mr Steelman’s latest designs will revolutionise gaming in the region, in the way Sands Macao managed to do.
One innovation Inside Asian Gaming is keen to witness is the transformation of the VIP baccarat rooms, where the bulk of Macau and the rest of Asia’s gaming action still takes place. Mr Steelman wants to move away from the staid “wood-panelled, windowless Louis XIV rooms” to VIP facilities that are more space-based than decor-based.
“How excited can you get over the wood-panelled room?”, asks Mr Steelman, suggesting “I think high-rollers like it a little simpler, to be honest.” Although the opening schedule for the US$2 billion Macao Studio City, designed by PSDG, has been put off indefinitely in the wake of the credit crisis, it will feature a dramatic move away from the current form of VIP rooms. Says Mr Steelman: “We were going to put them all in huts out on the pool. We were putting natural light into them, placing them next to the Playboy club, putting them in quadrants with big casinos going into little casinos, etc. We do have lots of ideas on how to make them more desirable.
“Architecture is energy and motion, and what we need to do in these rooms is to create a situation that has an energy-base to it. We can’t create a room that looks like a library and has some wood-panelling.”
Mr Steelman believes the current form of VIP rooms is a product of ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ thinking. After all, most casino architects simply respond to what their casino-operating customers ask for. “And the customers tend to like the last thing they’ve been in. So our customers actually don’t give us good read. What’s a good read is when a high roller travels from casino to casino, there’s a certain amount of architecture and decor that holds them in place. So what we’re trying to do with these rooms is we’re not trying to disguise it into something it’s not. We’re trying to say this is Macau, this is beautiful pool decks, this has great, luscious fabrics that makes you feel softer, this has lighting that makes you feel more tanned, this has music that allows you to talk over and concentrate on the cards.”
Another PSDG creation that is now a little farther off on the horizon is the US$4.2 billion beachfront Ho Tram Strip destination resort, phase one of which was originally scheduled to open late this year. Though there is no way that target will be met, Mr Steelman expects the foundations to be completed in October, and the resort open before 2012.
Positive side of the crunch
Although the credit crisis has deprived casino developers of funds to continue their work, the prognosis is not all bad for new casino projects, points out Mr Steelman. In the wake of the last downturn in 1987, several cash-strapped state and national governments moved to legalise or expand gaming within their borders because “officials wanted the painless taxation associated with it. We thought that that might also happen with this particular depression we’re in.
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“You might have just seen that mayor Daley in Chicago passed legislation for a casino to be built in that city. Kansas has a new gaming law. And you have the Vietnam law [enabling the Ho Tram Strip], which will be extended to other cities.
“We also see some liberalisation of European gaming laws, particular in Germany, which will allow casinos to be built more Las Vegas-style than they currently are.
“And we see some of the Indians [Native American tribes] coming to an agreement with the states easier than they did in the years before. For example, the Seminoles got a compact accepted by the government. There’s an undercurrent of this.”
