Set to open on the Las Vegas Strip in December, the $3.8 billion Fontainebleau Las Vegas is touting its interior and exterior architecture.
The 67-story luxury resort highlighted its design partners this week as it ramps up its grand-opening promotion. The property is a partnership between Fontainebleau Development and Kock Real Estate Investments and has 3,644 rooms and suites, a 150,000-plus-square-foot casino, 550,000 square feet of meeting and convention space, plus restaurants, nightlife, retail, pools, and spa.
“As we look to create an era-defining moment in Las Vegas history, together with our team and Fontainebleau Development’s Chief Brand and Design Officer Peter Arnell, we’re working to ensure that we’re executing on the vision our CEO, Jeffrey Soffer, set forth for the property,” said Fontainebleau Development President Brett Mufson. “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.”
Those design partners include the Carlos Zapata Studio, David Collins Studio, Rockwell Group, Lissoni & Partners, Jeff Leatham, Lifescapes International, and Jeffrey Beers International.
Architecture is the DNA of the new hotel-casino’s identity, paying homage to the original Fontainebleau in Miami Beach, Mufson said. To set the tone, Fontainebleau Development tapped David Collins Studio, led by the design firm’s Chief Creative Officer Simon Rawlings, to weave this ethos throughout the resort’s design concept.
The studio is collaborating with Fontainebleau Development to create the overall design ethos, including the lobby, lobby bar, VIP check-in, lobby bar, high-end suites, steakhouse, and lounge.
“Simon and the David Collins Studio team understand our brand and have laid the foundation for us to create an aesthetic that honors the legacy of Fontainebleau Miami Beach’s original architect, Morris Lapidus, while looking to the future to bring the next era of luxury hospitality to Las Vegas,” Mufson said.
Rawlings said that the history of the brand was an important reference point. They recognized that the design needed to be a nod to the original location, with aspects incorporated throughout the property, but also to create something entirely new and unexpected to meet the moment.
“Throughout Fontainebleau Las Vegas, you’ll find monumental spaces that feature spatial forms, materials, and finishes echoing Fontainebleau Miami Beach’s design language,” Rawlings said. “Icons and symbols effortlessly incorporated into the design represent the history and personality, balanced by modern touches and details geared toward Fontainebleau Las Vegas’s discerning global travelers.”
The interior-design firm is known for its work with Mandarin Oriental Msheireb Downtown Doha in Qatar, Nobu Hotel London Portman Square, Harrods, Beverly Wilshire, Corinthia London, Connaught Bar, Anantara Plaza Nice Hotel, and The London hotels in New York and West Hollywood, among others.
Overseeing David Collins Studio and other design partners, Rawlins works closely with Mufson and Arnell on the overall vision for the project. Additionally, Rawlins and his team are the design lead for all rooms and suites, the casino, as well as select retail stores and Fontainebleau-owned restaurants.
“From a creative and design perspective, no one knows the brand better,” Mufson said of Arnell and Rawlins. “Peter has been passionately involved with Fontainebleau Las Vegas since the project’s inception and he brings an exceptional dedication and expertise. He’s been pivotal in sculpting the brand and design experience to deliver a resort unlike any other. John, who began consulting on the project in 2008 before officially joining Fontainebleau Development in 2016, has done an outstanding job of bringing our vision for the property to life through incredible design, while also working closely with our partners through each of their areas of expertise.”
The rooms and suites, designed by Rawlins in collaboration with the resort’s in-house design team, “evoke an understated timeless elegance rooted in the Fontainebleau brand,” the company said. A color palette of blue and silver water tones with dashes of coral-pink is accented by mercury-glass mirrors and brass details. Silver-gray wood veneer, silver-leaf details, pearlescent shagreen inlaid surfaces, and Arabescato marble define the case-goods and other hard surfaces, while custom brass bowtie shaped drawer-pulls represent what the company says “is both attention to detail and a nod to Fontainebleau’s history.” The rooms also feature custom carpeting in an art-deco pattern of dove-gray and shades of blue, which establish a geometric foundation for the assorted curvaceous furniture selections which rest upon it, the company said.
“One of Morris Lapidus’s best-known quotes is, ‘If you create a stage setting and it is grand, everyone who enters will play their part.’ This motto influenced our choices at every instance,” Rawlins said. “However, we strove to achieve these notions without replicating what exists in Miami. This design will usher in the next generation for the Fontainebleau brand.”
The Rockwell Group architecture and design firm has designed the multiple food-and-beverage options, nightclub, dayclub, sportsbook and tavern, casino, and fitness center. The company is helped build Nobu Hotels and restaurants worldwide, W Hotels worldwide, Equinox Hotel New York, and 1 Hotel Toronto.
“Our design reflects the excitement and glamor of Fontainebleau’s original mid-century Miami Beach home, reinvented for today’s Las Vegas,” said David Rockwell, founder and president of Rockwell Group. “We’ve created a dynamic set of spaces that offer guests a journey of discovery, celebration, and relaxation.”
Architectural Designer Carlos Zapata has been retained to develop all exterior architecture. Zapata’s namesake studio is recognized for its work on Manhattan’s Standard East Hotel, the JW Marriott Hanoi, Singapore’s Sculptura Ardmore, Turnberry Ocean Club, and Bitexco Financial Tower, among others.
Lissoni New York is the North American office and interior-design practice of architect and designer Piero Lissoni, an extension of Lissoni & Partners, the Milan-based interdisciplinary studio. Lissoni New York will execute the vision for the 55,000-square-foot spa at Fontainebleau Las Vegas.
The floral arrangements throughout Fontainebleau will be designed by floral designer Leatham.
Landscape architectural firm Lifescapes International will create the entire exterior, porte cochere, and pool areas, as well as numerous interior environments. It has designed hotels, resorts, casinos, and multifamily and retail/mixed-use projects, including Fontainebleau Miami Beach, Wynn and Encore Las Vegas, the Mirage, Bellagio, the Grove, the Americana at Brand, Pendry West Hollywood Hotel & Residences, Rockefeller Center Channel Gardens, Encore Boston Harbor, Four Seasons Hotel Macao, The Westin Zhujiajian Resort in China, and Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort.
Additional design partners involved in the project include Jeffrey Beers International, responsible for the property’s outdoor pool area and its more than 550,000 square feet of customizable indoor and outdoor meeting and convention space.
“Our partners, working alongside our team in Las Vegas, will help us realize our dream of building something never before seen on the Strip, an entirely new luxury hospitality product that unites the magic and personality of two legacies – Fontainebleau and Las Vegas,” Mufson said.
