Casino Enterprise Management

Leaning against the cool dark purple metal railing that encircles the Rio’s Voodoo Lounge, Brett Ewing faces into the wind and squints in the sunlight. From 51 stories up, the Las Vegas Strip ripples along the panoramic skyline, giving way to the burnt Sierras surrounding the city. Ewing’s blue eyes scan the town from this eagle’s vantage point, and he seems to soak in the life and radiance that the city emanates as if it were his child. There is a modest pride in his smile as he begins to talk about his life.

“I always had a crayon or a pencil in my hand growing up,” he begins. “I loved drawing cartoons, and I also loved building things—two crafts I probably got from my father.

“In high school I took a drafting course and I loved it. When I was a sophomore, we had an art fair, and I took the overall regional trophy that year. That night I went to bed with the trophy in my arms, closed my eyes and said, ‘I’m going to be an architect.’” Ewing had found his calling.

It would ultimately bring him here, to Las Vegas, and, two decades later, to the Thalden Boyd Emery team.

Big City Dreams
While Ewing may be a country boy by birth—he was born at Devils Tower, Wyo., and raised in Spearfish, S.D.—he’s a big city guy at heart. After graduating with a BA in architecture from the University of Idaho in 1982, his first move was Las Vegas. “I had friends here,” he says. “At that time the town was growing—it was about a third of the size it is today. I came here with the intention of getting a job and some experience before I moved on.”

But he never moved on. Las Vegas, with its ebb and flow of culture, nightlife and rapid expansion, was the perfect place for a man with a passion for architecture and design. For the last 25 years, Ewing has helped design and build countless projects around the county, including some of the most notable Las Vegas casino resorts.

For the first five years of his career, Ewing worked for a number of smaller commercial firms including Dobrusky Kittrell Garlock and SH Architecture, which at the time was Swisher and Hall Architects. But in 1987, another opportunity emerged to join Marnell Corrao Associates, owned by Tony Marnell. It proved to be a great time to join the firm as they would start designing and building The Mirage for Steve Wynn.

Ewing recalls his experience working on The Mirage with fervor: “I had been doing relatively small commercial projects up until that point. The next thing I know, I’m working on this huge new resort Steven Wynn’s developing.”

Defining Las Vegas
The Mirage was no small project at the time, with around 3 million square feet and a $600 million price tag, most people thought Wynn was nuts to develop such a large-scale resort. It was the first project on the Las Vegas Strip in 16 years, and it is “the” project that defines what gaming and Las Vegas are today. “It was a home run,” Ewing says. “I remember Kenn Wynn saying they needed to take in a million dollars in gross revenue a day to pay off their loans. And at the end of their first calendar year, they were averaging about $2 million a day. It was an immediate success, and it was great to be a part of it.”
Specifically, Ewing’s “part” was in some of The Mirage’s most notable corners. “I focused on the volcanoes, the valet tunnels in front of the project, the glass atrium dome, and Siegfried and Roy’s animal habitat,” he says nonchalantly, as if every architect is afforded such iconic creative outlets.
Working on The Mirage put Ewing—and Marnell Corrao—at a notable advantage among Las Vegas architects. As the Strip continued to grow and more and more developers tried to emulate The Mirage, Ewing got a chance to work with some of the biggest names in the business. “I’ve worked with Steve Wynn, Atlandia Design (Joel Bergman and Roger Thomas), Bob Boughner (Boyd Gaming), Phil Satre (Harrah’s Entertainment), Jim Murren (MGM Mirage), Dan Lee (Pinnacle Entertainment), and of course Tony Marnell, who I worked for—the man’s a genius,” he says, again with a smile that fails to reveal the awe that these names inspire in the industry.

Marnell was also the man behind the Rio, another Las Vegas resort phenomenon. “I really cut my teeth as an architect working on the Rio,” Ewing says. “That’s why I wanted to come over here (the Voodoo Lounge). I got to work with Tony Marnell as the owner, builder and architect, and from the initial expansion, which opened in 1990, we expanded the project another eight times.”

Ewing says the best thing about working on the Rio over those 10 years was meeting the whole kit and caboodle of casino employees through Marnell. “I worked with the marketing people, the chefs, the gaming people, the hotel people, literally everyone that worked within the building,” he says. “I was right in the middle of everything, and I learned so much not just about design and architecture, but about operations and function. There were many life learning experiences during my work at the Rio that shaped my career.”

Notable Impact
While The Mirage and the Rio had a notable impact on Ewing’s career as an architect, it was the work he did on a non-gaming resort that resonates the deepest. In 2002, Jim Murren, CEO of MGM Mirage, and his wife sought to create a comprehensive cancer research and clinical trial facility in Las Vegas. They approached Marnell Corrao for help. “The Murrens had been affected by cancer, like most of us, and they asked us to put together the whole project, from program to budgeting to siting,” Ewing explains. “The project literally started from some napkin sketches and developed into a project complete with world-class doctors and equipment. We were out of our element for the medical side of it, but we brought in some consultants who had that expertise.”

The team at Marnell Corrao and the developers worked together to create what is now known as the Nevada Cancer Institute, just off I-215 and Town Center in Las Vegas. “The institute has been extremely successful and has helped save so many lives,” Ewing notes, pride shining through on his face. “I feel so fortunate to have been a part of the project. I don’t think I’ll ever get the chance to work on something like that again.”

Planning for Success
Success in the field of architecture doesn’t come easy. It’s about hard work and dedication, but mostly, Ewing says, it’s about asking the right questions and understanding the clients’ needs. “For a project to be successful, it needs to meet the owner’s goals, the economic plans and ultimately deliver to the end customer,” he says. “I’ve always said the best gauge of a project’s success is if the client calls you soon after and says he needs to expand. In the Las Vegas environment things move so fast and mistakes get made. A successful project takes time to plan and implement.”

And Ewing is now hoping to continue the success he had for almost 22 years at Marnell Corrao in his new position at Thalden Boyd Emery. Despite the shaky economy, Ewing relays that it was the perfect time to switch gears in his career. “Barry Thalden is a strategist, and when the economic conditions started to turn, he asked me if I would ever consider leaving Marnell Corrao to join his firm,” he explains. “Thalden Boyd Emery doesn’t have a big presence in Las Vegas, but it has solid practices in St. Louis and Tulsa, and Barry thought my experience in this marketplace would be a great addition. I saw it as an opportunity to do something different and a good time to leave Marnell Corrao. It worked out great. I’m 51, and I don’t know what I’d be doing 20 years from now if I wasn’t designing or creating.”

Natural Complements
Ewing brings to Thalden Boyd Emery knowledge of large, complex projects and how to manage large groups of people—and demanding ones at that. “You have to learn and understand the client and how to deliver the answers to them,” he says. “Thalden Boyd Emery has projects going on all over the country and Canada. The complement is that the firm has had great success in Indian country and has done some work in the commercial gaming market, but not too much, especially in the Las Vegas market. I have a lot of experience in Las Vegas and with my background and who I know in the commercial business, I offer them another tool for growth.” 

When it comes to his particular design style, Ewing is a pragmatist. “Clients usually give you an idea, a phrase or a sentence, and you have to run with it,” he explains. “Once you have that, you dive in headfirst and do all the research you can on the competition and how you can better them. I’m not a fan of classical architecture. Layers of mouldings drive me crazy. I like modern, clean lines and bold colors and use of materials. I don’t like layer after layer of ornate materials. I like to set the architecture into its vernacular through materials and design. You can use wood in the Northwest, for example, and it doesn’t have to look like a lodge. There are many ways to use regional materials.”

Although he says that the work of Frank Lloyd Wright inspires him (actually, he said Frank Lloyd Wright is the Tiger Woods of architecture, but actually it should be that Tiger Woods is the Frank Lloyd Wright of Golf), when he tries to describe his particular design style, he concludes that it is yet to be defined. “I believe my best work is in front of me,” he smiles, “and I hope to have the opportunity to develop a signature style at Thalden Boyd Emery.”

Krista Reiner is the Managing Editor of Casino Enterprise Management Magazine. She can be reached at (701) 293-7775 or editor1@aceme.org.