Golden Nugget Las Vegas Hotel & Casino

Biophilia is a hypothesis originally proposed in the 1980s, describing the tendency of humans to interact with nature and the natural world. In the context of design, it refers to architecture and urban planning that integrates natural elements in order to improve and promote wellbeing.

The interior design of early Las Vegas casinos has historically offered brash and bold environments with dark poker rooms, table games, and slot machines as seen in the California Hotel & Casino, the Horseshoe Club, now known as Binion’s Gambling Hall, and the Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino. These properties were believed to use a disorientation of time and place to their financial advantage. Recent studies by British psychologist Mark Griffiths have found—contrary to popular belief—that there is no conclusive psychological evidence regarding the effect of windows or the absence of wall clocks on gamblers. Griffiths’ studies uncovered plenty of unexpected factors, however, that influence the way people spend money on the casino floor, such as scent, music, light, and even the amount of people located around the gambler. Entrepreneur Steve Wynn referred to the introduction of natural light and greenery at his properties as his “special sauce,” which he first began to experiment with during his ownership of the Golden Nugget in downtown Las Vegas in the 1980s. Wynn and his team of designers transformed the property from a prototypical casino to something more inviting and natural.

Among the first fully biophilic casinos in Las Vegas was Wynn’s Bellagio Hotel & Casino, which incorporated natural light through its smart designed glass ceilings. Wynn and Encore Las Vegas followed this trend in subsequent years, by embracing nature with their incorporation of greenery, flowers, and water features to create whimsical indoor spaces. Some of the principal characteristics of biophilic design include the incorporation of environmental features, natural shapes and forms, natural patterns and processes, light, and any evolved human-nature relationship characterized by an innate desire of humans to have a closer connection to nature. Other significant archetypes of biophilic architecture around the United States include Apple Park (2017) in Cupertino, California, The Spheres (2018) in Seattle, Washington, and Little Island (2012) in New York City.

The architects and designers of Las Vegas have reconceived the design of gambling itself by creating these nature-minded spaces that allow visitors to enjoy themselves while gambling, fostering a sense of community and relaxation.