It’s not often you run into a horse on the Las Vegas Strip—least of all a band of Budweiser’s world-famous Clydesdales with a golden beer wagon in tow. Nevertheless, January, 30th, 2016 marked a special occasion. After years of planning and a handful of technological setbacks, the Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino opened the doors of the long-anticipated replacement to its Chateau Beer Garden: The Budweiser Beer Park.
Time to tap the first keg
In 2015, whispers of plans to replace The Paris Hotel’s rooftop nightclub with a more modern and accessible open-air multimedia experience began to circulate the Chateau’s operations team, headed by John Spadafora and Steve Kennedy. The duo wanted to create a space which naturally appealed to both locals and millennial tourists. The Paris Hotel wanted to create a must-see space in a city known for its multitude of entertainment options.
The idea for the Beer Park crystalized as a refreshing oasis in the midst of flashy night clubs––a backyard-next-door type of atmosphere. The park is fully equipped to create a fun, casual atmosphere that encourages guests to relax as if they are at a neighborhood barbeque. The Las Vegas Weekly describes the effect as culminating from: “Astroturf on the ground, to the wooden picnic tables (with sunken wells in the center to hold beers on ice), to the plates and glassware fashioned to look like Solo cups and Dixie paper plates.”
Couple that All-American simplicity with ultramodern technology in the form of digital signage, and you’ve created a honey pot for fun-seekers of every type. The space is filled with the latest modern touches: dozens of hi-definition weather-resistant TV screens are suspended over the picnic tables, topped off by two massive towers of digital signage that flank each side of the center bar.
“Beer Park is inspired by some of the great American pastimes that bring people together; things like going to the ball park for a baseball game, a tailgate party or a picnic at a neighborhood park,” says Matthew Silverman, corporate executive chef of Beer Park. “It’s a treat for the senses, being outdoors and smelling food cooking on the grill, drinking a cold beer, and watching the game while enjoying the view of the Strip from all around you.”
The Beer Park Overcomes Several Design Obstacles
It is extremely difficult to construct an outdoor space outfitted with the latest in high-definition TVs and digital signage without obstructing the surrounding views of the Bellagio Fountain and Las Vegas Strip. That’s where the team hit Design Challenge Number One – Beer Park would need to install low profile mounts that could help seamlessly blend technology without blocking the cityscape beyond.
“Premier Mounts understood the total strategy of project, not just the physical locations. Because of the location in Las Vegas, our client felt that clear site lines were very important. They didn’t want to obstruct the view of the strip both ways, Eiffel tower in front of you and the fountains at Bellagio behind you. We were building this space to maximize user experience. We couldn’t sacrifice the user experience,” said Dan Shannon, co-owner and operators of Ponto Solutions.
Premier Mounts, the undisputed leader in the digital mounting solutions space, had exactly the expertise needed to link the devices provided by Ponto Solutions to the structure of the former Chateau night club, having built its reputation on an innate ability to unite form and function into aesthetically pleasing, uniquely functional and efficient deployments for custom mounts and video walls.
Design Challenge Number Two: the harsh climate of Las Vegas has a notorious reputation for wreaking havoc on outdoor spaces. Any digital signage which outfitted Beer Park could count on constant exposure to threateningly high temperatures, winds, and sand.
Beer Park initially enlisted the help of Ponto Solutions to address the second issue. An expert provider of digital signage, Ponto Solutions decided to install Samsung’s OH55D all-weather, IP56-certified outdoor signage series designed specifically to withstand the all elements. Excellent visibility and auto-brightness displays maintain the highest levels of visibility in high ambient light environments – which is crucially important in the Las Vegas desert. Furthermore, its innovative cooling solution requires no AC, which maintains the durability of the equipment and keeps the costs of operation low. Yet, no mount existed on the market to accompany the weather-proof signage of the OH55D model.
Design Challenge Number Three: The Beer Park needed custom-made mounts for new Samsung displays, and they needed them quickly.
Luckily, Matt Abbrederis and Dan Shannon, the owners and operators of Ponto Solutions knew Premier Mounts could easily adjust its services to help outfit the conceptual outdoor space.
“This project involved the first installation of the first OH55D in America. Since these were the first ones in America, not only did Premier have to take into consideration the unique installation areas, and weight of units, they had to engineer a totally new product. These mounts had to be 100% weather proof. No other displays on the market have external power supplies like the new Samsung OH-D panels, so they had to accommodate this external power source, as well as everything else,” said Shannon.
Each of the OH55D units weigh in at 65 lbs before auxiliary equipment is installed. Not only did Beer Park require four-sided high-definition video wall columns to bookend its center bar, but the back-to-back pendent displays throughout the space each required a different mounting structure to suspend from the tubular ceiling structures. The installation of heavy equipment always introduces the engineering challenge of enabling safe maintenance and use. This is especially important in an environment like the Beer Park where there are up to 500 customers enjoying the space, and safety is of the utmost importance.
Every project Premier Mounts works on goes through a detailed analysis that involves human factors, safety, aesthetics and efficiency. As a result, the products selected have undergone stringent quality-assurance inspections, safety analysis, and certification programs before installation. Ponto Solutions, which also designed the menus on screen and the software for running each display, partnered with Premier Mounts during the conceptual stage.
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