Casino Hotels

[ where the sun lands ]

Water surrounds the island, and the pavilion facades are heavily glazed on every side. The angled walls of the French pavilion take the river light and pass it up through the internal levels. Around the buildings the park stays open, with the city skyline across the channel.

[ where the shade is kept ]

The interior levels are stacked and deep, so the middle of the complex keeps its own even light whatever the outside is doing. Restaurants and halls sit well behind the glazed skin. On the island, mature planting along the paths shades the approach from the bridge.

[ what stays lit ]

The pavilions are lit from outside after dark, which redraws their angled shapes above the water. The river carries the reflection, and the bridges and the Montréal skyline hold the rest of the horizon.

[ where the sun lands ]

Height is what this building works with. It stands on the escarpment above the falls, and its glazed public floors and guest rooms look straight down the gorge. Spray from the water hangs in the air, so the light on that side arrives diffuse rather than sharp.

[ where the shade is kept ]

The theatre, the spa and the internal galleries sit deep in the plan with no outside wall at all. Behind the resort the town rises on higher ground, and the podium levels stand in the shadow of the tower. Rooms away from the gorge face streets instead of water.

[ what stays lit ]

The falls are floodlit from the Canadian side, and the glazed face of the resort carries that light back. Along the rim the tower and the parkway lamps mark the edge of the gorge, and the mist takes the colour.

[ where the sun lands ]

River frontage gives this site its openness. The buildings sit low along the water, and the restaurants and the hotel wing look across the arm toward the flats and the North Shore mountains beyond Vancouver. Boats at the pontoons add a second, moving surface to the view.

[ where the shade is kept ]

The show theatre and the inner halls carry no windows, and the covered walkways between the wings keep the connections under cover. Parking structures stand between the road and the water across part of the site. Along the dyke path, planted rows shade the walk toward the marina.

[ what stays lit ]

The marina keeps its pontoon lights, and the low buildings show a long lit line along the water. Aircraft on approach pass overhead, and the airport and the bridges hold the rest of the horizon.

[ where the sun lands ]

Open country and lake water surround the site, so the light here is broad rather than framed. The hotel tower stands above the low halls and takes it on every side. Golf ground and mixed woodland run out from the buildings toward the shore of the lake.

[ where the shade is kept ]

The entertainment hall and the internal concourses are windowless by design, and the podium roofs shade the entrances beneath them. Mature bush along the property edge holds the light off the approach roads. Rooms on the lower floors look into the trees around them.

[ what stays lit ]

The tower and the entrance canopy carry most of the exterior lighting, and it is visible across flat ground for some distance. Beyond the property the lake goes dark, and Orillia sits lit on the far shore.