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OCTOBER 2015 | 81 Cascades Casino Kamloops RENDERINGS COURTESY MALLEN GOWING BERZINS ARCHITECTURE INC. Cascades Casino Kamloops by NATALIE BRUCKNER-MENCHELLI G ateway Casinos & Entertainment's long-held vision to provide the City of Kamloops with an outstanding gaming facility has come to life with the new Cascades Casino. Relocating to its new site on Versatile Drive, Gateway Casinos & Entertainment was able to fulfill its dream of creating a facility that would act as a gathering and destination place for the people of Kamloops. "The downtown site has for years provided an enjoyable enter- tainment experience for people across Kamloops, but the time had come for an upgrade," says Tanya Gabara, director of public relations at Gateway Casinos & Entertainment. "The original site had limited parking. We were also con- strained by the size, age and construc- tion of the existing facility, which limited the design and architectural options." Instead, the striking new facility, which is just shy of 65,000 square feet, provides easy access to adequate free parking and offers upgrade potential to round out Gateway's amenities in the coming years. Due to the location of the new facility, civil and landscape consultants, Urban Systems, had to work closely with its roads and landscape team to provide information to Gateway to meet the City's rezoning requirements. "This included detailed design of the road improvements, the parking lot design, contract administration and construc- tion services," explains Mark Hall, prin- cipal at Urban Systems. As this project was a complete reno- vation and retrofit to an existing big- box store, there were many challenges to incorporate the architectural and mechanical needs of a gaming facil- ity into the existing structure. To help minimize the effects on the existing structure and to create a cost effec- t ive st r uc t ural upg rade st rateg y, Wicke Herfst Maver (WHM) Structural Engineers, provided guidance early on. Trying to integrate the existing building and materials with the new construction also posed a challenge. "We had to remove and replace almost 15,000 square feet of concrete in order to put the right plumbing in place for two kitchens with large grease interceptors, five bars and 10 different washrooms," explains Greg Thomson, construction manager at Plainsman Companies, the construction manager on the project. When it came to the design of the new building, the team was keen to step away from the classic casino style and create something a little more estheti- cally pleasing. "The architect had a sur- mountable challenge to convert a simple existing big box store into an architec- turally expressive gaming facilit y," explains Brian Maver, principal at WHM. "This of course challenged the exist- ing structure and WHM was required to review every detail to understand the effects." Construction of the interior struc- tural steel began in March. "This had to be broken out of the drawings and sent off for production early as we knew it was a long lead time item, and this had to be complete before much of the interior construction could proceed," explains Thomson. The mechanical design was spe- cifically tailored to the project, and all equipment was located on the rooftop so parking and event space would not be negatively impacted. Equipment was pre-ordered well before comple- tion of the construction drawings, says Jamie Dabner from Integral Group. Four large custom air handling units were designed for the gaming floor that were close to 10,000 kilograms (11 tons) and 3,000 millimetres (10 feet) tall – large enough to attract a significant amount of snow build-up. "Because of the archi- tectural and mechanical elements, we had to upgrade the structure to accom- modate the increase in gravity, wind and seismic effects," explains Maver. To work well with its surroundings, Mallen Gowing Berzins Architecture Inc. (MGBA) and Gateway found inspi- ration from nature. As a result, steel and aluminum back-lit screen are comple- mented by a haphazard tilted pattern, featuring wood highlights for vertical structural elements. "The intention of the exterior expression is to be mimetic of a forest, an homage to Kamloops' local natural features and elements," says PJ Mallen, principal at MGBA. "The result is a very modern and contempo- rary esthetic, but with some natural highlights that help bring warmth and human scale to the building for its users and guests – an artistic and adaptive nod to nature, as opposed to an imita- tive one." Upon entering the facility guests are welcomed by a guest services counter and a colour-changing illuminated grand hall that leads through to the heart of the facility, and provides glimpses of the gaming floor and the restaurants offerings on either side. Mackay Wong Strategic Design carefully selected warm tones and natural design elements that would bring elements of the outside in. A fire wall acts as a landmark to the entrance of Gateway's fine din- ing restaurant, ATLAS Steak + Fish. Surrounding the entry fire there are hints of the interior expression exposed through the orange sunset tinted win- dows and the tropical green wave- patterned ocean wall. "Upon entry, the vista straight through to the exterior is rewarded with another large fireplace feature, but the discovery of the ele- ments that frame this view are illumi- nated by the excitement in between," says Mallen. "The crystal ceiling soars to 19 feet with 1,156 individually hanging glass pendants sparkling like the stars above, framed by dramatic curtains and the wavy ocean wall and mirror back- drop. The lush carpeted floor grounds the space as its references are drawn from the views of earth from space and how the land and sea mingle." LOCATION 1555 Versatile Drive, Kamloops, B.C. OWNER/DEVELOPER Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Ltd. ARCHITECT Mallen Gowing Berzins Architecture Inc. (MGBA) CONSTRUCTION MANAGER Plainsman Builders Inc. STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT Wicke Herfst Maver (WHM) Structural Engineers MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT Integral Group CIVIL/LANDSCAPE CONSULTANT Urban Systems INTERIOR DESIGN Mackay Wong Strategic Design TOTAL SIZE 65,000 square feet (including outdoor space) TOTAL COST $40 million

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