Casino Niagara 
Architects & Designers

Date:
November 1996

Drawing their inspiration from the region's history and natural beauty, Casino Niagara's architects and designers have built the region's second wonder.

A collaborative effort between Toronto architectural firms of Reich and Petch, Forrec Ltd. and Directions In Design -an international company which specializes in interior casino design - the region's newest attraction makes a storybook first impression. From the outside, the creative use of local limestone, stucco and glass is reminiscent of the city's architectural heritage grand hotels and mansions built in the early1900s to the late 1920s when the adjacent Skyline Brock  Hotel was completed.

The architecture is complemented by colorful gardens and landscaped boulevards characteristic of the city's waterfront.

Visitors entering the complex from Falls Avenue will be captivated by the regal Maple Leaf Village structure which has been restored and enclosed in an 80-foot-high glass atrium.

Inside the casino, cascading waterfalls, majestic stone columns, archways, wrought iron accents, landscaped terraces and hanging vines create a courtyard-like atmosphere.

Throughout the casino, visitors will experience a journey of excitement and discovery as they pass through "doors" which reveal a variety of "indoor" "outdoor" themes.

Whit Petch, vice president of Reich and Petch Inc., said the casino's 96,000 square feet of gaming space is divided into smaller spaces to accurately represent the architecture of the early 20th century.

"We've taken a large gaming space and made it more intimate and more identifiable," he said.

Lisa Zangerle, project manager with Directions In Design, said another gaming area is fashioned after a conservatory in honor of the Niagara Parks Commission's butterfly conservatory which will open in December 1996.

"All of the walls are outfitted in stone and glass and the pattern in the carpet is layers of butterfly wings," Zangerle said.

To heighten the drama of the illusion, many of the interior walls are designed as historic facades while others boast murals of outdoor scenes creating the illusion of picturesque windows. "The goal was to create an indoor/outdoor theme," Zangerle said. "In places, it's like you're peeking over a garden wall and looking out over the Continuing this theme, the main foyer boasts three-story waterfalls on either side of a glass-sided escalator and a high-dome ceiling accented with a mural of the sky.

Visitors arriving at the Bender Hill entrance will enter through a rotunda entrance made up of 16 glass doors. Inside this entrance, fiber-optic lights patterned after the constellation illuminate a dome ceiling.

Once again, water is a prominent theme in this area of the casino. Located off the Bender Hill entrance a waterfall fashioned from a wall of clear acrylic plates accentuates the light as it dances off the water.