Seven Clans Red Lake Casino, Red Lake Minn. Community elders of the Red Lake Band of Chip- pewa Indians who own and operate the Seven Clans Casinos Red Lake casino-hotel complex in Red Lake Minn. wanted the facility’s design to re- spect tribal heritage, but also exude an atmosphere of fun and relaxation. DSGW Architects accomplished this by de-
signing the overall casino complex to resemble a traditional tribal longhouse, or gathering place, while incorporating contemporary building materials such as Alucobond aluminum composite material (ACM) by 3A Composites USA Inc. and a sophisticated color-changing LED exterior lighting system. “They wanted to create a fi rst-class facility
that had a north woods fl avor with contemporary elements in order to improve their gaming im- age,” says Erik C. Wedge, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP, partner, DSGW Architects, noting the new casino replaced the gaming facility that had been incorpo- rated into the Red Lake Humanities Center. The $21 million, 65,840-square-foot Seven
Clans Casinos Red Lake complex was designed to celebrate the area’s woodlands culture with rippling images of the shimmering blue lake. “Red Lake is very culturally important to the heritage of the Red Lake Nation,” says Wedge, who recre- ated the water effect in exterior cladding with an intricate pattern of hourglass shapes formed with Alucobond ACM in the Spectra Ocean color. A total of 3,250 square feet of 4-mm-thick Alucobond Spectra Ocean was installed at the casino. Alucobond Spectra Colors allowed architects
to incorporate a unique, ever-changing color spectrum in the cladding of sophisticated building designs. Colors change as different wavelengths of light are refl ected back to the audience, depend- ing upon the viewing angle. At night, the Spectra Ocean exterior panels produce a unique, eye- catching effect when bathed in a state-of-the-art LED lighting system that changes colors. The lake theme was carried inside the
complex with Alucobond Spectra Ocean ACM installed in decorative interior elements. Two Spectra Ocean panels were positioned behind the lobby check-in desk, and a series of doubled- sided curved Spectra Ocean panels were installed within a grand wooden canopy positioned over the facility’s gift shop. Atomic Architectural Sheet Metal Inc. both fab-
ricated the Alucobond Spectra material and installed it in a route-and-return wet-seal method. Fabricating the Alucobond exterior panels into the compound radius hourglass shapes required a multi-step process, according to Russ Schmitz, Atomic vice president of sales. “The face of these panels has a compound radius as well as the sides; we heat
38 METAL CONSTRUCTION NEWS September 2012
welded-them together,” he says. “An aluminum at- tachment system was fastened to the panels so we could create a running bond-type pattern.” According to Wedge, “The Alucobond
Spectra exterior cladding has held up well in the northern Minnesota winter. The Alucobond has performed very well. It’s an extremely mainte- nance-free material.” “There was no piling of snow on the Aluco-
bond,” says Raymond J. Brenny, COO, Red Lake Gaming. “It didn’t freeze up or discolor. It looks as good as the day it was installed. We’ve been get- ting a lot of positive comments. It’s pulling people in from the highway.” The Seven Clans Casinos Red Lake complex
includes a 40-room hotel, gift shop, two restau- rants and a conference center, while the gaming hall features 310 slot machines, four black jack tables and two poker tables.
Architect: DSGW Architects, Duluth, Minn. General contractor: Woodstone Builders Inc., Minneapolis Fabricator and installer: Atomic Architectural Sheet Metal Inc., Vadnais Heights, Minn. Representative: Environmental Building Products LLC, Excelsior, Minn. Metal wall panels: 3A Composites USA Inc., Statesville, N.C., www.3acomposites.com, Circle #41