Mohegan Sun is one of the largest resort casinos in the USA, with over 364,000 sq. feet of gambling space. Located on the banks of the Thames River in Uncasville, Connecticut, it provided a great venue for state-of-the-art waterjet cut-and-fabricated stonework.
NYC-based Rockwell Group, the architects of this sizable undertaking, specified Creative Edge Master Shop of Iowa for all waterjet cutting and fabrication work; with Kenneth Castellucci & Associates of Rhode Island selected to install the one-of-a-kind waterjet stone designs.
“The amazing design treatments created by the Rockwell Group for Mohegan Sun Resort Casino represented an extensive display for waterjet fabrication for stone interiors,” says Jim Belilove, President of Creative Edge. “Large areas of different patterns – ranging from intersecting arcs, to a ‘cracked earth’ theme and a bold use of actual bronze waves, rivers and accents – demonstrated the potential of waterjet to manage careful fit, tight joints and patterns with dissimilar materials. We cut thousands of pieces of stone and, for this project, there were no straight cut lines.”
Once the waterjet cutting was completed, all stone and metal pieces were factory-fabricated, assembled, and made ready for installation to minimise job-site cutting and fitting.
“This was a great project. We loved working with the creative and inspired designers at Rockwell, and the installation professionals at Castelucci,” enthguses Belilove. “We believe that all projects are good projects. But when we are fortunate enough to be working with a world-class architectural design company, and one of America’s most professional tile and stone installation firms, this project was much, much better than good!”
Approximately 15,000 sq. feet of waterjet-cut natural stone was specified for Mohegan Sun’s flooring. This included beautiful selections of Royal Red Onyx, Jerusalem Gold, Emperador Light, St Laurent Brown, Thassos White, and Nero Marquina. Actual Bronze was also waterjet-cut and integrated into the designs, as well. Prior to installation, it had a special patina applied to darken it.
Since 1988, under the leadership of Belilove, Creative Edge Master Shop has worked on more than 10,000 projects worldwide, many within the hospitality sector. Mohegan Sun is just latest prestige project to benefit from the remarkable possibilities of waterjet fabrication for architecture and design. A waterjet cutter is an industrial tool capable of cutting a wide variety of materials using a very high-pressure jet of water, or a mixture of water and abrasive. In the case of Creative Edge, the waterjet cutter is located on the end of a robotic arm, which is programmed and driven to cut the most precise designs using this powerful jet of water.
In 2015, Mohegan Sun Resort Casino finished second in USA Today’s 10 Best Casinos list, as chosen by readers. Today, if the ballot was for ‘best waterjet stone floor in an American casino,’ Mohegan Sun would surely take top honours!
A new post by Ron Treister and Joe Simpson, Diary of a Tile Addict, October 2017.
