iLight' s Plexineon Makes New Resort Casino a Standout on the Vegas Strip

Lighting the exterior of a new casino so that it stands out along the Las Vegas Strip is a formidable task.

"It's extremely challenging," says Hervé Descottes, owner of L'Observatoire International, a New York-based lighting design and consulting firm. "To find your identity is not so easy." ,p> L'Observatoire was brought in to design the exterior lighting for The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas -- a 2,995-room, $3.9 billion luxury resort casino and hotel.

To carry out his vision, Descottes specified iLight's linear LED technology because it could provide the uniform, thin line of light he desired, both in blue and in white.

Already familiar with the Plexineon lighting system after using it for a project in Hong Kong, Descottes adds, "I liked that the product was very slim -- suitable for highlighting The Cosmopolitan's clean, modern lines, designed by Arquitectonica, the exterior architect. Built on less than 10 acres -- small by Las Vegas Strip standards -- The Cosmopolitan has a vertical, urban feel. That orientation is emphasized at the street-level entrance, where White Plexineon fixtures frame an inviting gateway. Like streamers draped from above, the long lines bend at points with the structure and suggest a curtain separating two worlds -- the outdoors and The Cosmopolitan's art-infused interior.

Descottes had other plans for The Cosmopolitan's two high-rise towers. He wanted to create a sense of motion that could be appreciated from a distance, "like a starburst moving across the sky." That's achieved with different lengths of Blue Plexineon fixtures installed horizontally and staggered up and down the vertical expanses of the buildings. The lights gently pulsate on and off, from bottom to top, suggesting a wave.

Together, the two applications of iLight Plexineon are key to distinguishing The Cosmopolitan from the surrounding glitz.

That's been confirmed by the positive feedback Descottes has received since the December 2010 opening. He says the consistent brightness of both Plexineon colors is "exactly" as he hoped.

"I'm very excited about it," he says. "I really like it."