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Harrah’s Northern California

Location
Ione, CA

Industry
Casinos & Hospitality

Harrah’s Northern California

Louie Oliver's Bottle Design

Designing a Signature Casino Experience for Harrah's Northern California

Designing a Signature Casino Experience for Harrah's Northern California

When Caesars Entertainment unveiled plans to introduce the Harrah’s brand to the Sacramento, CA area, it was clear the project would be a major development. The new Harrah’s Northern California casino, spanning 71,000 square feet and operated by the Buena Vista Gaming Authority, required a signage partner who understood how every detail contributes to the overall casino experience while also delivering signs efficiently and effectively.

Project Scope

Gable, a leading visual communications company, was selected by Wilmorite Construction, the general contractor, to design, build, and install signage across multiple phases of the casino. Working closely with Steelman Partners, the Architect of Record, Gable ensured that the signage program not only met functional needs but also seamlessly complemented the architectural and interior design of the property.

Louie Oliver's Bottle Design

From Concept to Completion

To kick off the project, Gable created concept designs for potential exterior and interior signage to present to Steelman Partners and Wilmorite, showcasing how the signage would seamlessly integrate with the overall environment, creating a signature casino experience.

Once approved, Gable created a timeline and selected partners to make sure all identification and wayfinding signage was completed on time and within budget. The timeline showed various stages of the project:

Roadside Monument Sign

Approaching the casino from the street, a monument sign is situated to communicate the Harrah’s Brand and capture the attention of all passersby. Steelman Partners, a Nevada-based architecture and design firm, provided a loose schematic of the sign, which Gable further refined to ensure it could deliver the design intent and fit the scale of the environment. Gable fabricated the aluminum monument sign with a few vehicular directionals featuring Harrah’s Northern California logo.

Three years later, to attract and assist more customers, Harrah’s reached out to Gable to see if the sign could be changed from a static sign to a digital one. Gable custom-built the LED display and utilized the sign’s existing structure to create a visually pleasing result. The casino now displays their brand colors and a variety of changeable messaging on the outdoor digital sign.

Harrah’s Northern California Monument
Harrah’s Northern California Monument

Main Identification Sign

At the entrance of the casino, a color-changing waterfall was created by Steelman Partners, to serve as an enticing landmark, drawing customers into the property. Positioned in front of the waterfall, Gable created the main identification sign featuring adjustable white LED lights and Harrah’s iconic star logo. Together, the waterfall and sign create a cohesive entrance that aligns with Harrah’s brand colors, marking the beginning of the customer journey at Harrah’s Northern California.

Illuminated Louie Oliver’s Glass Bottle Wall

A popular break from the games is the Louie Olivers Restaurant and Bar. The restaurant has a distinctive sign featuring 2,287 illuminated, powder-coated glass jars in four vibrant colors to create an alluring entrance.

Design

Steelman Partners provided Gable with an architectural concept they wanted to implement spanning across multiple panels at the front of the restaurant. Steelman explained the desired aesthetic they wanted to achieve, which prompted Gable to conduct feasibility studies internally with the production team to determine the practicalities of fabricating and installing the unique design. Several aspects, including the materials to be utilized, the weight, and energy consumption, were discussed.

Gable contacted various vendors that supply glass bottles and requested test samples. It was decided that powder-coated jars were necessary to allow for the level of customization Steelman sought while allowing light to filter through every bottle in a variety of colors. Gable then compared color samples in various densities to compare how light comes through at varying percentages. Throughout this process, the team ran into a few challenges with the density of the powder coat. Although in the end, they were able to get everything shipped and put into place in time for the grand opening.

Gable collaborated with Sundial Powder Coating, a company in California specializing in retail glass bottle powder coating and decided on two sizes to allow for variation and contrast. There are 2,287 total jars, consisting of roughly half small jars and half large jars. After deciding on the final Louie Oliver’s logo and conducting some color studies within the brand colors to ensure it integrated well with the surrounding restaurant interiors, Gable began to arrange the color selections for a balanced result.

For pattern development, Gable took the initial concept sketches from the mid-century look provided by Steelman, and narrowed down the colors to amber, green, clear, and blue. They incorporated a wave pattern by trying out variations of defined and random wave patterns. Then Gable’s router technicians developed samples and prototypes to start refining the design. They made a partial sample in the shop to determine if the colors would turn out the way they intended and if not, adjust the intensity of the lighting. Using this, sample spacing patterns were created to evaluate different aesthetics before finalizing the design.

Fabrication

Technicians at Gable’s shop tested different ways to set the bottles into the sign face to control how the light spreads around the edges. They also tried various methods for mounting and securing the bottles. They found that screwing the bottles in from the front of the sign frame was the simplest solution for production and installation. Once the sign was fully developed, the team made sure the contractors got the blocking in place for the structure, made certain that it supported the weight, gained access to panels on the backside provided for wiring needs, and verified the power requirements.

Installation

Gable began by installing individual shell cabinets using staging which was secured to the wall and ceiling using heavy duty togglers. This took three days to get lined up perfectly. Once that was ready, the bottle installation began. Gable’s technical team worked on a full set of buildable shop drawings including the framing components, blocking details, cabinet details with the bottles, and the diffuser panel for the LED lights.

When installing, the crew had full-size color prints to overlay over each other. This allowed for the correct color jars to be placed in the right position to create the dynamic mosaic effect. This process took about a week to complete as there were two to three installers on site at a time going through boxes of the different colored jars and installing them by hand one by one. Once all the jars were installed, Gable installed the halo-lit channel letters through the face of the sign and attached them with concealed fasteners.

Improving the Casino Experience at Harrah's Northern California

Additional Wayfinding and Identification Signage

Gable also worked on various interior wayfinding signs. Pendant-mounted illuminated cabinet directionals were fabricated from aluminum and positioned throughout the casino’s interior to help guests find their way around. They contained continuous metal ribbon details with routed and backed acrylic copy on the faces. There was internal diffused white LED illumination with dimmers and illuminated edge details that incorporated specialty acrylic.

Much like the roadside monument sign, the interior wayfinding signs were also refurbished to become digital signs. Initially, creating modules that seamlessly fit each sign size while maintaining aesthetic appeal was challenging. However, the team successfully overcame the challenge by removing the old panels and mounting the new modules onto a specially designed frame, ensuring a cohesive result.

Gable also created the following signs to improve the casino experience for the Harrah’s Northern California property:

  • Cashier sign: Illuminated cabinet with push-thru copy, LED lighting, and a satin metallic finish.
  • Dining signs: Internally illuminated channel letters with a metallic finish.
  • Food Court signs: Fabricated channel letters on a large radius, with push-thru acrylic, LED lighting, and magnetic menu boards.
  • Restroom signs: Illuminated overhead cabinet and ADA-compliant ID signs.
  • Exterior signs: Door vinyl and non-glare acrylic with illuminated frame.
  • Parking lot signs: Directional and informational signs with changeable panels, matching the main roadside sign. Aluminum panels feature reflective graphics of the four card suits and Harrah’s logo.

The Results

Gable satisfied the wishes of Wilmorite, Steelman Partners, and Harrah’s Northern California and were pleased with the on-time installation of the entire visual communications package staying true to Harrah’s brand identity while seamlessly integrating with the overall environment, enhancing the casino experience for their guests.

"It was the collaboration between Gable and the external client partners that allowed for us to easily translate their vision into reality."
Ken Lay Headshot
Ken Lay
Director of Design, Gable

A big thank you to our partners and collaborators for their dedication and teamwork on this project:

  • Wilmorite Construction LLC, NY
  • Steelman Partners, NV
  • Sundial Powder Coating, CA
  • Metro Powder Coating Services, MD
  • United Sign Systems, Inc., CA
  • Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians
  • Caesars Entertainment, Inc.
See How Gable Serves Casinos
Harrah's Northern California Casino Experience

To learn how our team can bring our design-build expertise to your next stadium or convention center project project, contact us online or reach our Solutions Consultants by phone at 800-854-0568.

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