The new ARIA Resort & Casino will shimmer just a bit more brightly in the hot Las Vegas sunshine, thanks in part to Valspar’s coatings. Located in the heart of the newly opened 18-million-square-foot CityCenter, ARIA is the centerpiece of this urban resort destination.
The largest private sustainable development in the world, CityCenter received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for six of its buildings. LEED provides independent verification that a building project meets the highest green building and performance measures. ARIA is the largest hotel in the world to be LEED Gold certified. One aspect of certification is using materials that are recyclable — all building components coated with Valspar extrusion and coil coatings are 100 percent recyclable.
Baker Metal was the design engineer and Valspar’s customer Texas Finishing coated the aluminum for the ARIA Resort & Casino’s glass curtain wall that covers the exterior of the complex and other aluminum components. Curtain walls are constructed of aluminum frames that are infilled with glass. Attached to the exterior structure, they allow natural light to infiltrate the complex. “When working with architects on a design, Baker Metal insists on using Valspar coatings on the aluminum frames because of the performance of our products and our service,” said Mary Ann Johnson, marketing manager, Valspar Coil and Extrusion Coatings. “The sunshades on each floor had interesting architectural features, which made it more complex to manufacture and coat, but Texas Finishing did a superior job.” Texas Finishing was responsible for applying the coating, which took about three and a half years to complete and required three manufacturing shifts per day.
The CityCenter is …
… an urban metropolis on 67 acres between the Bellagio and Monte Carlo resorts on the Last Vegas Strip. CityCenter features ARIA, a 61-story, 4,004-room gaming resort; luxury nongaming hotels including Las Vegas’ first Mandarin Oriental and Vdara Hotel & Spa; Veer Towers, the development’s only exclusively residential buildings; and Crystals, a 500,000-squarefoot retail and entertainment district. Additionally, The Harmon luxury boutique hotel is slated to open in late 2010. CityCenter features a resident Cirque du Soleil production celebrating the musical legacy of Elvis Presley, and a Fine Art Collection with works by acclaimed artists. CityCenter is a design collaboration between MGM MIRAGE and eight internationally renowned architectural firms including Pelli Clarke Pelli, designers of ARIA.
To see the making of CityCenter in a time-lapse video, visit http://www2.citycenter.com/offers/2009/12_new_res_construction/web_index.html.
