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MEETING DESIGN CASINO Style PLACE-BASED DESIGN | BUILDING EXCITEMENT | STYLE SPOTLIGHT 2026 THE AI FACTOR REPEAT SUCCESS Non-Gaming Amenities for Integrated Resorts A GGB PUBLICATIONJULY 2026 www.ggbmagazine.com 45 CONTENTS COLUMNS 54 Perspective Designing for What’s Next By Nathan Peak, AIA DEPARTMENTS 46 Building Excitement A collection of the year’s top projects in casino design and architecture. Style Spotlight 70 Cintas 70 Culligan Quest 71 Cuningham 72 HBG Design 72 JCJ Architecture 74 R2Architects FEATURES 64 COVER STORY 56 Conventional Wisdom Regional and mid-market casinos are taking their cues from integrated resort concepts to develop and grow their meetings trade. By Marjorie Preston 60 AI as Design Partner Artificial intelligence can’t replace human creativity. But AI tools help streamline the design process, from drawing board to final delivery. By Frank Legato 68 A Sense of Place Regional casino resort design is moving away from the mini-Vegas model to better reflect local culture, spirit and geographic setting. By Kathy Urban Many Happy Returns In a fiercely competitive market, casino designers encourage thoughtful long-term investments that inspire repeat visitation and improve ROI. By Robert Gdowksi, AIA CASINO Style 2026 a GGB publication 56 60 68 48 4746 CASINO STYLE JULY 2026 BUILDING EXCITEMENT I n Oklahoma’s Panhandle, where open skies and long prairie views define the landscape, Golden Mesa Casino & Hotel introduces a new benchmark for quality, comfort and design presence in the region. Designed by HBG Design, the $78 million expansion elevates the Guymon, Oklahoma property from a local gaming venue into a more complete regional entertainment destination, pairing expanded gaming with hotel accommodations, layered food and beverage experiences, and a stronger sense of arrival. The project more than doubled the casino’s gaming capacity, adding a 40,000-square-foot gaming floor with more than 1,100 electronic games and table play, a premium high-limit area, a new 99-room hotel, and a curated collection of restaurant, café and bar venues. Together, these additions create a more polished and dynamic guest experience, giving visitors new reasons to extend their stay, gather socially and engage with the property beyond the gaming floor. For HBG Design, the design approach focuses on graceful growth, creating an expansion that feels fully integrated rather than appended. Through close planning and operational coordination, the team enhanced circulation, improved key functional adjacencies and thoughtfully repurposed existing spaces to support a more seamless guest and staff experience. The architectural character of Golden Mesa draws from the strength and openness of the surrounding prairie landscape. Warm stone, wood-effect cladding, copper-toned metal panels and extended rooflines create a sense of durability, welcome and regional authenticity. Contemporary vertical elements add movement and scale, giving the property a more modern resort presence. By day, the building feels grounded in its setting; by night, it becomes a beacon on the Panhandle horizon, with a signature cross-weave lighting pattern animating the façade and creating a memorable visual identity. Inside, the resort experience is shaped through light, color, texture and atmosphere. The hotel lobby establishes an immediate sense of arrival with a two-story atrium and dramatic geometric chandelier. From that point, the interiors unfold through a palette inspired by the shifting tones of the Oklahoma landscape, from expansive blue skies to vivid prairie sunsets. Warm neutrals are layered with teals, burgundies, gold accents and textured finishes, creating spaces that feel both comfortable and energized. The transition from hotel to casino is designed as a shift in tempo. Within the connecting portal, a geometric light installation creates a theatrical passage from the calm, hospitality-focused lobby environment into the more active energy of the gaming floor. In the high-limit area, JCM Global’s CLEAR transparent LED digital wall adds vibrancy, visibility and a refined sense of excitement, reinforcing the property’s more elevated entertainment experience. The hotel continues the design story through a subtle dusk-to-dawn concept expressed in the elevator lobbies, corridors, guestrooms and suites. Changing tones, ambient lighting and abstract murals create distinct moments throughout the guest journey while maintaining a cohesive sense of place. Gold Standard HBG Design Golden Mesa Casino & Hotel • Guymon, Oklahoma Guestrooms balance quiet comfort with contemporary freshness, using neutral foundations, bright accent colors and artwork inspired by the openness and light of the surrounding plains. Golden Mesa Casino & Hotel is most successful in the way it pairs bold design ambition with disciplined operational execution. The expansion design brings resort-quality hospitality and entertainment to a growing regional market while delivering a confident, contemporary and regionally inspired identity for Golden Mesa Casino. For more information, visit hbg.design. BUILDINGJULY 2026 www.ggbmagazine.com 47 Shaped by Place Cuningham Acorn Ridge Casino • Plymouth, California C uningham partnered with Warner Gaming and the Ione Band of Miwok Indians to develop Acorn Ridge Casino, a new gaming and entertainment destination in California’s Sierra Foothills. Conceived as a strategic investment serving both local residents and wine country visitors, the project establishes a bold and recognizable presence while remaining appropriately scaled and flexible to support future expansion. The project team took a pragmatic approach, defining a clear development framework, evaluating site opportunities and constraints, and establishing a disciplined strategy for phased growth. The resulting concept is right-sized for the market and aligned with the owner’s resources; its realistic schedule and budget allowed the project to move confidently through entitlement and design. Cuningham’s design of the 25,000-square-foot gaming floor, full-service restaurant and bar and outdoor entertainment venue draws directly from the region’s landscape and culture, embracing the mild, year-round climate through an indoor-outdoor concept uncommon in the industry. Perimeter spaces open to exterior patios, bars extend outdoors, and the gaming floor features operable windows that offer views of the expansive foothills and allow fresh air and daylight to flow into the space. The building’s tiered form echoes the gentle variations of rolling hills, while stone veneer references the area’s rocky soil. Inside, a palette of burgundy and champagne tones reflects the Amador wine country, while an illuminated wine display anchors the restaurant concept and celebrates the region’s viticulture as a striking focal point. Above the table games, a custom light installation inspired by the region’s iconic oak trees creates a distinctive architectural identity rooted in local character. Together, these elements create a dynamic gaming environment that blends interior and exterior experiences. Open, visually-aligned program areas support intuitive guest movement and enhance energy to create a memorable destination that feels authentically connected to its surroundings. The project, completed in February, is a market- and context-responsive gaming destination built for long-term growth. For more information, visit cuningham.com.48 CASINO STYLE JULY 2026 BUILDING EXCITEMENT F or Bally’s Dover Casino Resort, the introduction of Círculo Lounge marks a bold evolution in gaming-floor energy—an immersive social destination designed to quite literally keep guests moving. Conceived and delivered by R2Architects + R2Interiors (MBE) as planners, architects and interior designers, the project transforms a central casino location into Delaware’s first and only rotating bar, redefining how guests engage with the space. Over 2,000 square feet, Círculo Lounge replaces the former Fire & Ice bar with a dynamic, 360-degree revolving experience that completes multiple rotations per hour, offering continuously shifting views of the casino floor. This kinetic design element is more than a novelty; it becomes the organizing principle of the space, creating constant visual interest while encouraging circulation, interaction and repeat engagement. Programmatically, the lounge was envisioned as a high-energy social hub—one that seamlessly blends premium beverage service with live entertainment. Guests experience DJs, solo performers and curated music programming while the bar’s slow rotation reveals new perspectives, reinforcing a sense of discovery throughout the evening. At its core, Círculo Lounge is about connection. The circular form becomes both a physical and symbolic gesture—bringing people together, fostering interaction and creating a shared experience within the larger casino environment. By integrating movement, atmosphere and social programming, R2A and R2I have delivered a feature that not only elevates Bally’s Dover but also sets a new benchmark for regional casino design. For more information, visit R2Architects.com or R2 Interiors.net. Rotating Design, Elevated Experience R2Architects + R2Interiors Círculo Lounge at Bally’s Dover Casino Resort Dover, Delaware I n early May, Partouche Casino Club in Paris launched an expansive new high-end gaming venue as part of an overall $115 million investment at the property, located a stone’s throw from both the iconic Arc de Triomphe and the Place de l’Etoile. The 5,400-square-foot space spans seven stories at the property. Three stories are devoted to live table games, including blackjack, craps and punto banco. But the emphasis is on poker, with 70 tables, dedicated areas for Texas Hold’em and Omaha, and a plan to offer up to three tournaments per day. With capacity for more than 1,000 guests, Partouche Casino Club is now the largest gaming establishment in the French capital. Other amenities include an Italian-inspired restaurant and additional bistros and bars on every level. A soaring central atrium anchors the destination, illuminated by vivid LED displays. Maurice Schulmann of operator Groupe Partouche called the club “a place like no other in Europe… at the heart of the world’s leading tourist destination.” Sortir á Paris agreed, calling it “the new temple of gaming” in the City of Lights. C’est Magnifiqu Groupe Partouche Partouche Casino Club • Paris, FranceCoushatta Casino Resort | Legacy Tower | May 2026 Architecture | Interior Design | Master Planning www.TBEarchitects.com What Will Be YOUR Legacy ?50 CASINO STYLE JULY 2026 BUILDING EXCITEMENT Natural Wonder TBE Architects 4 Bears Casino & Lodge • New Town, North Dakota A $100 million,146,200-square-foot renovation and expansion has debuted at 4 Bears Casino & Lodge, on the shores of Lake Sakakawea in New Town, North Dakota. The project, completed in June, replaced the former two-story hotel with a seven-story tower, adding 90 guest rooms and suites, for a total of 264 rooms. It also expanded the gaming floor and transformed a 20,300-square- foot restaurant into a sports bar with a dining area and gaming stations. The hotel’s uppermost floor now boasts: • A 2,500-square-foot ballroom, ideal for banquets and meetings • Sky-high dining in the glass-surrounded Bison Room Steakhouse • The opulent Sakakawea Spa, specializing in couples massage Also new: a gift shop, fitness room and salon. In addition, the lobby and kitchen have been upgraded, and a dedicated glass-backed elevator now rises to the suite level. Set amid natural wonders like the Killdeer Mountains, the Crow Flies High Butte, the Little Missouri River and the North Dakota Badlands, 4 Bears is owned by owned and operated by the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara tribes, collectively known as the MHA Nation or Three Affiliated Tribes. Chairman Mark Fox has called property “an integral part of our regional economy,” adding, “The MHA Nation supports this hotel development as a means to protect nearly 200 full-time jobs. The infrastructure reinvestment is also necessary to compete with the expansive off-reservation gaming.” The project team included the Wenaha Group, a Native-owned owner’s representative firm, and general contractors Kraus-Anderson. TBE Architects, a Native American design firm known for its work with 121 tribes and First Nations, served as senior project manager. I n June, Full House Resorts broke ground on the new American Place Casino, a world-class destination coming soon to Waukegan, Illinois. The $302 million casino complex on Fountain Square is expected to bring jobs and economic growth to Waukegan, drawing patrons from Chicago, Chicagoland, Wisconsin and across the Midwest. A temporary casino, open at the site since early 2023, will continue operation until the permanent facility opens in 2028. Located on 42 acres near the Windy City’s North Shore, American Place will include six bars and restaurants, a food hall, a multi-tiered entertainment venue, and a world-class casino and sportsbook. According to the operators, it will offer “a major leap forward in both scale and sophistication, in the distinctive style of famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who was born in Wisconsin and lived most of his life in Chicago.” Jeff Babinski, American Place vice president and general manager, says the permanent facility “will expand what we offer, create hundreds of new jobs, and give our guests, team members and community a destination they can be proud to call their own.” Wright Move WATG American Place Casino • Waukegan, IllinoisDESIGNING TRANSFORMATIVE EXPERIENCES Gun Lake Casino Resort Hotel Wayland, Michigan Congratulations to Gun Lake Casino Resort on Achieving AAA Four-Diamond Designation!Next >