Fontainebleau Las Vegas’ Design Partners Revealed Before December Opening

Article ByDavid Weir

September 12, 2023

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Posted in: Nevada Gambling News, US Casino News, US Gambling News

Fontainebleau Las Vegas has recently unveiled its list of elite design partners for the $3.9 billion casino resort set to open this December.

Each partner is set to bring unique expertise and experience to the long-awaited new Nevada brick & mortar casino resort. That includes Italy’s Lissoni & Partners, experienced Vegas landscapers Lifescapes International, and legendary fashion house floral arranger Jeff Leatham.

Development on the Fontainebleau Las Vegas has been on and off since 2007. The brainchild of Donald Soffer, who built the iconic Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami in 1954, the project faced lengthy financial delays caused by the 2008 financial crisis, and then the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, now, what is already the tallest casino resort building in Las Vegas is finally looking set for its overdue debut.

“Together with our team and Fontainebleau Development’s Chief Brand and Design Officer, Peter Arnell, we are working to ensure that we are executing on the vision our CEO, Jeffrey Soffer, set forth for the property,” said Fontainebleau Development President Brett Mufson in a press release.

“This dream could be realized only by partnering with designers that bring an unrivaled depth of knowledge and skill to the project, and a shared history of successful collaborations with Fontainebleau Development.”

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Colossal Spaces

The resort’s leadership has chosen well-known firms, some of which have been instrumental in shaping the biggest Las Vegas resorts of the past. The aim of the build is to echo both classic Las Vegas luxury and the iconic art-deco vibes of the Fontainebleau Miami.

David Collins Studio is at the helm of the interior architectural design, drawing inspiration from the original Fontainebleau Miami Beach.

Carlos Zapata Studio, known for prominent buildings in New York and across East Asian hub cities, is charged with ensuring that the resort’s facade is as impressive as its interiors.

“Throughout Fontainebleau Las Vegas, you’ll find monumental and colossal spaces that feature extraordinary spatial forms, materials, and finishes echoing Fontainebleau Miami Beach’s design language,” said Fontainebleau Development’s Chief Creative Officer, Simon Rawlings

More than 7000 Employees Expected

Elsewhere on the site, Rockwell Group, a New York-based global design firm, has been entrusted with designing entertainment and eatery spaces inside the resort. That includes its nightclub, sportsbook, tavern, and fitness center.

“Our design concepts reflect the excitement and glamour of Fontainebleau’s original mid-century Miami Beach home, reinvented for today’s Las Vegas,” said group founder and President David Rockwell.

Lissoni & Partners, the American branch of the famous Milan-based design studio, will be bringing their expertise to the resort’s 55,000-square-foot spa.

The resort’s landscape design is in the experienced hands of Lifescapes International, a firm that has previously worked on iconic properties like Wynn and Encore Las Vegas and The Mirage, as well as the upcoming Rio renovation. The company has 65 years’ of experience working on top casino resort projects across the U.S.

Finally, adding a touch of nature and elegance to cap off the resort will be designer Jeff Leatham. Known for designing floral installations for major luxury fashion houses like Chanel, Bulgari, and Alexander McQueen, Leatham will be crafting flowers into beautiful decorative pieces scattered across the resort.

Fontainebleau Las Vegas, once operational, will boast 3,644 hotel rooms and suites. The property will also feature a sprawling 550,000 square feet of meeting space and a 150,000-square-foot casino floor, ensuring that it captures as much of the booming Las Vegas visitor market as possible.

The 25-acre, $3.9 billion project is being partly financed by Koch Real Estate Investment after decades of struggling towards completion. It is expected to employ moe than 7,000 people once complete, and a couple of thousand more during the final phases of construction.

It appears that July’s rooftop fire at the under-construction resort, which saw more than 80 firefighters called out, has not delayed the new time line for its launch.