Meet budget guidelines for cost-effectiveness
Harrah’s
decided to update and expand the successful Range Steakhouse, a Western-themed restaurant
in North Kansas City, MO. Harrah’s wanted a more contemporary look, a canyon setting.
They wanted guests to feel as though they were actually ‘cooking out on the
range.’
Using various colored gels on the downlighting and accent
lighting, the interior and lighting designers on the project created the look of a canyon
at sunset. In the center of the restaurant, a grill sits in a rock wall mural that was
embedded with neon strips to simulate flowing water.
In the lounge area, which is designed to transition customers
through the canyon into the open space, underlighting showcases the Mexican onyx bar.
Internal neon lights in a glass panel and around a bronze mirror add to the atmosphere.
Screen partitions designed as trees were fitted with colored accent lighting.
One of the challenges, according to Valli Wiggins, interior
designer on the project with the Hnedak Bobo Group in Memphis, TN, was creating a dramatic
look but preventing the area from being totally backlit since the restaurant is approached
from a lighted pavilion. The ability to set the levels of all the lighting elements
allowed guests to enter into the darkened space, their eyes easily adjusting to the lower
light levels.
According to Wiggins, "this was one of the few times we
designed the whole look including the special effects lighting and then found a lighting
control system that would perform as planned." The goal was to have a lighting
control system that handled all types of lighting easily, created the required theatrical
effects, and was simple to operate and change.
Lighting designer on the project, Jim Benya of Pacific Light
Works, Portland, OR, agrees: "A restaurant or themed space is only partially
successful unless the mood matches the design. The space has to feel as good as it looks.
Preset dimming allows you to create the mood."
According to Benya, a multi-scene programmable dimming system
offers the best control with the maximum flexibility. With its modular approach, a
versatile preset dimming system allows a single panel to provide the capability and the
flexibility to change down the road, at substantial cost savings over individual controls.
Lutron’s GRAFIK EyeŽ 4000 system was selected to
control all the lighting in the renovated entrance, bar area and dining room. The lighting
system was comprised of 14 zones, integrating control of both the architectural—table
lighting, accent lighting, and downlighting—and all special effects lighting.
The zones were preset and recalled using a single,
easy-to-operate system that acts as an essential element in the design of a visually
dramatic setting.
