The long awaited Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort, located in D’Iberville, Miss., is setting the trend for many new casinos to come. The casino is part of a master plan developed by SOSH NY Architects, an award winning architecture, interiors, and planning firm specializing in hospitality.

Nory Hazaveh, Principal, goal behind the Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort project was to celebrate the enchanting past, intriguing present and joyful future of Mississippi by creating a destination not only focused on gaming but also on family entertainment and amenities. The Scarlet Pearl has incorporated family oriented amusement with gaming by creating a destination complete with a glamorous hotel, restaurants, an outdoor swimming pool, an adventurous miniature golf course and multi-functional event center.

Designed to capture the essence of southern hospitality, the hotel inherits a traditional feel while remaining contemporary at its foundation. Built entirely on land, unlike other casinos in the Biloxi area; this 500,000-square-foot, $290 million dollar development features a 56,500 square-feet, column free gaming floor and 225 feet tall hotel tower complimented with intriguing architectural details unique to many of its competitors.

The resort’s hotel tower is comprised of 234 deluxe rooms, 56 suites and 10 penthouse suites. A critical element of the building envelope is the curtain wall system, of the 18 story tower, comprised of panelized curtain wall units with metal panels. The glazing is adorned with a custom frit pattern reminiscent of the beaches and waves that grace the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The opacity of the frit pattern transitions from clear glass to opaque glass at the spandrel. SOSH NY devised a 4 panel pattern that flipped and rotated the designed wave to minimize the quantity of custom panels needed.

The curtain wall, designed and specified as a unitized system, was mandated to meet hurricane impact requirements for the region so portions of the curtain wall are small-missile and large-missile impact glass. Due to the coast’s hot and humid summer temperatures, specified glass featuring a low e coating, a solar heat gain coefficient of (.32) and a U- value of .273 was designed to drastically cut down on heat gain in the guestrooms. With the unitized system, Roy Anderson Corp., the construction manager, was able to enclose the building sooner while creating a watertight enclosure to allow interior construction to proceed as compared to other envelope systems.

Due to the tight construction schedule, the TPO (thermoplastic Polyolefin) roof was substituted with an EPDM (Ethylene Propylene Diene Terpolymer) roofing system. The proposed system would allow the contractor to install one ply on a protection mat over the roof insulation to act as a temporary construction membrane, while equipment was installed. After the construction subsided the roofer installed the two ply as specified.

 The exterior wall of the podium was originally designed as an EIFS stick frame system, but RAC purposed a substitution to a panelized prefabricated system. Upon review the team installed a hybrid system, of mostly prefabricated panels with stick construction, in certain unique areas. Aesthetically the exterior finish of the panel system is the same as designed, but the system allowed quicker instillation since the panels were fabricated off site.

In doing so, RAC was able to enclose the building envelope at the podium quicker than with stick construction to allow interior work to progress and meet the overall schedule. SOSH NY consulted with Edwards and Company building envelope consultant on the project. The Scarlet Pearl is an architectural accomplishment advancing gaming and resort development while adding a fresh approach to master planning and building design.