Hard Rock to build world’s largest guitar-shaped hotel
Florida has embraced plans to construct the largest guitar-shaped hotel at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.
Set to open in 2019, the 137m high structure is designed to appear as two back-to-back guitars.
The design will add 638 rooms to the hotel bringing the total room count to 1,270 and will have a 3,800sqm spa complex.
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The casino will also boast 3,267 slot machines and 178 table games plus a brand new 1,670sqm poker room.
The design was imagined by James F. Allen, CEO of Seminole Gaming and Chairman of Hard Rock International and will cost approximately US$1.5 billion.
The Hard Rock hotel and restaurant empire is known for its guitar motif across the globe, but this will be the first of the company’s buildings to resemble the actual instrument.
The guitar-shaped design is one Baker had previously used when creating this house. Picture: Keith Baker.
Vertical fins up the tower’s midline have been designed to resemble strings, while horizontal banding act as ‘frets.’
Allen told the Sun Sentinal, “It will be the first building in the world that’s truly to scale designed as an authentic guitar, so it’s not just an exterior facade, the curving of the building will be identical to an authentic guitar.”
Although the new hotel will be the largest guitar building, it is not the first one constructed.
Architect Glenn Williams designed his own Guitar House in California in 1996, citing Picasso’s cubist rending of the instrument as his inspiration.
William’s home contains two family dwellings, two home offices and an attached two car basement garage.
The design of the hotel and casino aims to optimise the use of renewable energy sources and minimise pollution by incorporating elements like harvested daylight and natural ventilation.
