Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Biloxi

The raised Center Bar, “the place to ‘see and be seen,’" features a radical design with metal panels radiating from the center of the bar, which are reminiscent of spokes on a wheel. Each metal panel is streaked with color using ColorBlast® 12 Powercore fixtures. The Center Bar’s visual focal point features Color Kinetics iColor® Module FX, a 6-inch (15 cm) square modular unit with singularly controllable points of light, at the middle. The iColor Module FX panels display intricate patterns, images, animation and video on the 15-foot by 25-foot (4.5 X 12 m) LED wall. Champelli created video content including a constantly changing wave of colors, and he programmed the display to jibe with the other design elements throughout the bar and hotel. “The colors on the ‘wheel spokes’ are chosen to complement and in other times contrast with the LED wall,” said Champelli. “Combined, these lights give the Center Bar a pulse and a tempo and establish a system to keep things moving without being a distraction.”

Four ‘Video Skylights’ are prominently located on the ceiling over the promenade walkway. The 10-foot by 10-foot (3 x 3m) framed skylight is comprised of 25 units of iColor® Tile FX, a 2-foot by 2-foot (61 X 61 cm) panel that provides a canvas for creative lighting designs, effects, animation and medium-resolution Video with Light™. The display is separated by mullions to conserve the number of LED tiles being used, and each separated section is covered by Panelite™ translucent honeycomb panels to diffuse the display image. The ‘Video Skylights’ feature custom video light shows in a one-hour loop.

VIBE is an upscale restaurant with a private dining room in the early evening hours and a small performance area for late night live entertainment. At its entryway, a sign made out of iColor® Flex SL, a multi-purpose, LED-based strand of light, welcomes and entices customers into the vibrant atmosphere. The sign's custom-made 24-foot by 12-foot (7.3 X 3.7 cm) steel frame structure is covered in a DiBond® material, and punched holes allow for almost 3,500 iColor Flex SL nodes to slightly protrude from the artificial leather surface. Each of these LED nodes can be individually controlled to create intricately designed effects and patterns of light, resulting in an impressive ceiling structure that can be viewed from across the casino.

In other areas of the hotel, such as in the buffet areas, iColor MR g2s display different patterns such as an American flag motif with stars and stripes or random color changing sequences. A variety of equipment and video servers are used to store the content and feed the data streams to the LEDs and special programs have been incorporated to allow for the effects to be changed or updated as warranted.

ColorBlast 12 Powercore fixtures illuminate the hotel's exterior. Arranged on poles that allow the LED power cables and DMX control signals to be combined, each pole has a specially fabricated support arm to hold 6 ColorBlast 12 Powercore fixtures. The poles are then directed to focus the light on the lower, middle or upper levels of the building. The LED light show has a changing color palette and nicely complements the famous eight-story guitar.

Control and data distribution were critical to the success of the project. Buddy Pope, Senior Project Manager for 4Wall Entertainment Lighting, explains, "We designed conventional managed data networks using star topology, routers, and other features of typical office or industrial networks. Our approach was to use Ethernet and commonly used network wiring protocols to allow for the distribution and control of all of the LED systems in a reliable and seamless manner."

With the combined efforts of 4Wall Entertainment Lighting and Color Kinetics, the Hard Rock Biloxi now further enhances its fun Rock 'n' Roll atmosphere and an attitude all its own.