Casino Design

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

WESTAR Architects’ Paul Heretakis Named to Global Gaming Business Magazines

“Top 25 People to Watch” for 2009.

While 2009 looks to be a great year for WESTAR, highlights of 2008 included the opening of WESTAR Architects international Limited headquartered in Macau and being named 27th on Interior Design Magazine’s list of Hospitality Giants.

To learn more about Paul and the other outstanding GGB 2009 peers visit www.ggbmagazine.com

WESTAR Architects is proud to announce Paul Heretakis, Vice President and head of the Hospitality Division of WESTAR Architects, was recently named to the prestigious Global Gaming Business magazines list of 25 People to Watch For 2009, under the headline of “Design Star”.

Mr. Heretakis was honored for his ground breaking work with the largest gaming companies in the world including MGM Mirage, Las Vegas Sands, Harrah’s entertainment Inc., Trump Entertainment, Cordish Companies and Penn National. Forward thinking fellow industry leaders commission Paul for his unique ability to “Create participatory environments of energy and escapism”. To view the exciting portfolio of Paul Heretakis and WESTAR Architects please visit Westar Architects.

Contact: Margaret Sharp, PR

Westar Architects

701 Bridger Ave. Suite 400

Las Vegas, NV 89101

702-878-0000

or

Paul Heretakis [PHeretakis@wagnarchitects.com]

Note: Steve Karoul invited Paul Heretakis to Batumi Georgia to submit a bid for a new five star casino resort being built by an individual from Dubai.  The owner was so impressed by Paul's creativity and unique "wow" designs that he engaged him on the spot.  Paul brings a breath of fresh air and creative talent to the casino industry.  Please feel free to contact Paul direct for additional information.

Global Gaming Business Magazine Article:

Paul Heretakis knows how to put the "wow" factor into exciting casino hotel designs. 

Vice President, Westar Architects

The aesthetics of a casino are top priority for most gaming operators—after all, if a property doesn’t look good, people won’t come. That’s where Paul Heretakis steps in.

Seven years ago, the New York-born Pratt Institute graduate joined Westar Architects, a commercial architecture firm. Heretakis, who relocated from the East Coast to Las Vegas to be a part of creating the famed glamour of casinos, brought with him a love of hospitality and a knack for designing spaces. Heretakis now leads the hospitality division of Westar, a position that has enabled him to work with some of the gaming industry’s brightest minds.

As a young boy growing up in New York, Heretakis vividly remembers taking weekend trips to Atlantic City with his family. The feeling that washed over him when he stepped into a glittering casino was unlike any other. He knew had to be a part of that world.

Now Westar Architects is one of the fastest-growing architecture firms in Las Vegas, due in part to Heretakis’ brilliant hospitality design work. He has contributed to a variety of projects, including retail, dining and entertainment offerings, as well as remodeling efforts, such as Harrah’s Atlantic City, which Heretakis cites as his most challenging project to date.

“It was a matter of balancing a new image for Harrah’s, which was to appeal to a younger clientele, and also meet the demands of their older, more traditional, long-established clients,” Heretakis says. “It was a great exercise in balancing those two to make sure at the end of the day they weren’t losing any clients; they were making their existing clients happy. They were also appealing to a new set of clients who were a little bit younger and little bit more hip.”

The Harrah’s Atlantic City remodel is more evidence of Heretakis’ bright future, which includes expansion into new markets. Westar Architects now has locations in Phoenix, Philadelphia and a newly opened branch in Macau. Heretakis is becoming a truly international designer.

Heretakis is currently finishing up work at New York-New York Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, where a major design transformation occurred. He is also working on projects in Europe and focusing on the expansion into China.

The current economic slowdown has hurt the gaming industry, which in turn has affected business at Westar Architects. Heretakis and his colleagues have decided to use the recession as a reason to expand Westar’s responsibilities. The firm is branching out into non-design areas, such as branding, financial analysis, restaurant development, programming and marketing. Heretakis is an artist who seeks to explore and create new images, new models and new ways of thinking.

“We create participatory environments of energy and escapism, and that’s what we really always have found, what we’re really trying to do with the casino model,” Heretakis says. “There’s a unique architectural vocabulary to that; there’s a certain amount of interior design influence that can really make a casino what it is, and that’s what takes hospitality and gaming and separates it from other types of design.”