Night Moves

When it comes to designing a state-of-the-art nightclub, an emphasis on technology does not require the sacrifice of intimacy or artistry. District 36 in New York City and Marquee at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas both integrate technology and art in unique applications that create ambiance and promise guests a new experience with every visit. “District 36 goes back to the original Sound Factory, back to that core vibe,” says Kenneth Powers of Richard Long & Associates, referring to the New York City stalwart of house music in the 1990s.

The three-floor, 14,000-square-foot venue features a basement lounge and a layered wall collage from renowned visual artists Mint&Serf that leads gyrating guests down into the basement. Their work draws from a wealth of contemporary text and imagery, featuring a chaotic combination of news headlines and pop culture icons." As a designer, you want to add, add, add, but also stay true to the underground club,” says John Rawlins of Rawlins Design.” I had to restrain myself—that was the challenge. The constantly changing projects, graphics and lights serve as the real color.”

The DJ booth alone at District 36 features three turntables, custom speakers and the option to patch in a computer to synchronize the music, lights and graphics on display in the nightclub. Gary Stewart of famed Zouk Nightclub, Sound Planet, Love and Ministry of Sound designed the club’s audio system with assistance from Kenneth Powers. “It’s a hard-core dance system, all custom-built with big speaker stacks,” says Powers. “With dance music you need heavy subwoofers and bass—it’s all about the beat. We’re establishing new standards for modern NYC.”

At Marquee Nightclub in Las Vegas, the main room features a 40-foot LED video screen that can lower to form a bridge over the dance floor. The 60,000-square-foot venue is comprised of seven different bars, each with a different ambiance and aesthetic.

“Because of the variety of discrete dancing and lounge experiences that we created within Marquee, we wanted the spaces to unfold as guests moved deeper into the club,” says David Rockwell, founder of Rockwell Group and designer of Marquee. “We envisioned the typical guest at The Cosmopolitan as hip, chic and youthful, and one who appreciates urban sensibilities and pays attention to good design.”

The scope of Marquee allows a unique experience in each room. “The main room is a larger-than-life celebratory space, where the programmed three-level stage makes you feel like you are part of the performance or DJ-led experience,” says Rockwell. “We also created adjacent areas where you could still feel part of the experience, but in a more rarified way; a series of rooms where you can listen to different types of musical genres.”

Marquee’s décor is as varied as the musical styles it embraces. "Although we designed spaces that really speak to different moods, eras and music, we tried to use lots of metallic tones, repeated colors and pattern references to tie the distinctly styled spaces into one cohesive night club,” says Rockwell.

At District 36, construction materials include black granite bar tops, silver-blue mosaic glass as the bar back and silver cubic tables for guests. “This generation has higher expectations—it can’t be a plywood black box,” says Rawlins. “It’s about flow and function first.”

To increase the sound quality and add to the intimacy of the space (not to mention avoid noise violations), the designers of District 36 went to great lengths to contain as much music as possible. “The ceiling is treated with fairly extensive acoustic paneling,” says Powers. “The walls are close to a foot thick. There is sheetrock, soundboard, plywood—a total deadening treatment.”

“The space is really about serving as a changing exhibition for artists—so much of the color palette is steel gray, offering an industrial vibe,” says Rawlins. “Even the metal grills on the speakers are capable of being projected on.”

Marquee uses sophisticated lighting equipment to dynamically shape the experience of each room in the multi-story club. “We wanted the lighting to both set the mood for a nighttime ambiance and allow the guests to see the details in all the different rooms we created,” says Rockwell. “We chose a lot of materials that had varying levels of reflectivity so that they could be dramatically illuminated by the decorative fixtures, and also help the rooms sparkle.”