The first storeys of the giant guitar tower of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, which is now under construction in Hollywood, Florida, started to appear above the ground. Dignitaries, musicians, and fans of the Hard Rock Hotel have recently shattered guitars in celebration of the tower’s construction. The guitar-shaped tower is just a part of a 1.5-billion-dollar-worth complex that will be designated for entertainment by the Seminole tribe.
Courtesy of Seminole Tribe of Florida
The hotel, which is designed by Klai Juba Wald Architects, will house 600 rooms, a spa that has an area of 41,000 square feet, and several restaurants. The tower, which will be around 450 feet high, will comprise several features at the lower levels like plunge pools, waterfalls, and cabanas to entertain the guests. Watersports will also be available at the enormous artificial pond.
Since the Hard Rock Hotel branches across the globe are famous for the guitar logo, it just made sense that their new building would embody the musical instrument. The building’s design features upright fins to resemble the guitar strings whereas the horizontal stripes resemble the frets.
“It will be the first building in the world that’s true to scale designed as an authentic guitar,” commented the Seminole gaming CEO and chairman of Hard Rock International, James Allen. “So, it’s not just an exterior façade, the curving of the building will be identical to an authentic guitar.”
Before the Hard Rock Hotel tower, there were other ‘smaller’ attempts to build guitar-shaped buildings like the Guitar House that was designed by Glenn Williams in Venice, California, about 20 years ago.
The bottom floors of the hotel building started to show up in recent photographs. “To do this…to have a guitar-shaped hotel—the only thing I’m a little concerned with is it’s not a drum!” said Nicko McBrain jokingly, who is a drummer in the British band, Iron Maiden.
The hotel is expected to complete in 2019, with the complex awaiting major renovations.
Features of the complex revamp include the demolition of the current theater, which can accommodate around 5,500 spectators, to be replaced with a bigger one dubbed the ‘Hard Rock Live’ – which will have a capacity of 7,000 seats. The casino’s area will double up and a new meeting area is going to be established, in addition to several shops and restaurants.
The owners hope to open the hotel before the NFL starts in 2020 at the Miami Dolphins Stadium.