African Design and Texas Styling Spotlighted at America’s Largest Water Park
America’s largest indoor water park is located in Round Rock, Texas and features an authentic, modern African design blended with a local Texas flair. Inspired by a trip the resort owner took more than 20 years ago to South Africa, Ghana and Tanzania, the Kalahari Resort and Convention Center displays more than 1,000 pieces of hand-selected African art, sculptures, furniture and retail items. The $600,000 art investment is a core element in the Kalahari brand and celebrates the people, places and cultures that inspire the Kalahari resorts. To date, Kalahari Resorts Round Rock has invested more than $5.5 million in the purchase of African art, textiles and more to support African artists, craftspeople and entrepreneurs. “Everything is bigger in Texas, so it was the perfect place for our largest and most luxurious resort yet,” said Todd Nelson, owner of Kalahari Resorts and Conventions. “We’re proud to be able to open the Round Rock location, as scheduled, despite what was a challenging year for everyone. The $550 million resort brings much needed tourism dollars and hospitality jobs to the area and offers a welcome getaway for locals and travelers.”
The African artwork can be found throughout the 1.5 million-square-feet Kalahari resort, which is situated on 351 acres and features 975 guest rooms, 20 on-site dining options, an indoor adventure park, and 200,000 square feet of meeting space for events. Guests can choose from 1-, 2- or 3-bedroom suites. Guests can choose from five signature restaurants for their dining options--Double Cut steakhouse and bourbon bar, Cinco Niños modern Mexican kitchen and tequileria, B-Lux Grill and Bar for burgers and shakes, Sortino’s Italian Kitchen, and the Great Karoo Marketplace with buffet selections. The resort also features a full spa, salon and a fitness center. Inside the spacious 223,000-square-foot indoor waterpark are 20 pools and whirlpools, along with 30 water slides complemented by three acres of outdoor pools.
Attractions include a FlowRider surf simulator, adult grotto swim-up bar, cabanas and waterfalls. The wave pool includes a giant 37-foot LED display screen with surround sound mounted along the pool’s back wall to entertain with interactive video games, trivia and dive-in movie experiences. Complementing the indoor water park is an indoor adventure park with a bowling center, arcade and Tom Foolerys Adventure Park that features 80,000 square feet of thrill rides, a ropes course, climbing walls, indoor zipline, bowling, laser tag, escape rooms, mini golf, 250+ arcade games and attractions.
A Texas-Sized Effort The enormity of this project, along with the mechanical complexities involved in supporting a water park, required that the investors in the property assemble a dedicated team of architects, engineers, lighting designers, contractors, electricians and lighting professionals. Key members of the team included HKS (architects); Blum Consulting Engineers (mechanical/electric engineers); MWHarris Lighting Studio (lighting designer); Hensel Phelps (general contractor); Trio Electric (electrical for the hotel resort); Bergelectric (electrical for the convention center); and Legacy Lighting (lighting wholesaler specializing in commercial lighting).
A key challenge was that the team had to plan, manage and complete the construction of this impressive resort and convention center during a pandemic on a very tight schedule. Design approval was obtained in September 2018; lighting was specified and installation began in 2019; and opening day was set for November 12, 2020. “Our main goal was to create a world-class waterpark resort destination that integrated local African art and culture while elevating the Kalahari brand,” said Daron Andrus, architect and principal at HKS. “The task was enormous, as this is the largest Kalahari Resort to be built in its entirety in a single phase and also the largest indoor waterpark in America.” According to Andrus, the team focused all of the resort’s amenities outward to take advantage of the Texas weather. This is in contrast to the existing three resorts all based in northern locations where the climate does not allow for year-long outdoor activities.
Everything from the lobby to the restaurants and bars, as well as the outdoor artisan village (called the Shanga), featured outdoor terraces and plazas. “When the client wanted to go big in Texas and create the largest indoor waterpark in America, we had to ask ourselves how we could create an authentic African experience in such a large development. Everything we had seen and experienced on our Africa trip was small scale and more intimate,” said Andrus.
Lighting a Priority Lighting played a critical role in helping the design team achieve its objectives and create an awe-inspiring environment that spotlighted the magnificent artwork and African feel. Proper lighting was a priority with the goal of creating a warm, welcoming experience for adults and children. “We wanted the architecture, interior design and life-sized animal statues to create a sense of awe and wonder for guests young and old,” said Mark Harris, founder/principal of MWHarris Lighting Studio. “We strove to literally suspend reality for the guests for the short period of time they were enjoying the resort.” According to Harris, criteria for the lighting design included identifying lighting options that would showcase the unique architecture and interior designs. His team used layers of light to create depth, three-dimensionality and visual interest. His specifications also included controls that could change the lighting throughout the day to mimic the passage of time. “Our biggest challenge on this project was finding a way to take a large, expansive project and visually break it down into smaller, more intimate areas through the use of light,” said Harris. “Yet, we needed to maintain a continuous, holistic design appearance which meant reinforcing the architectural concepts and vision without being overt and obvious, as well as providing a visual hierarchy and wayfinding to delight guests.” Supporting MWHarris and the team was Legacy Lighting with its full range of lighting products from more than 140 manufacturers.
Shawna Sieck, president of Legacy Lighting, said, “We had three main criteria for the inside and outdoor spaces for Kalahari. First, the lighting had to be energy efficient. Second, color rendering was crucial to the property, especially for the restaurants, interior areas and the animal statues throughout the property. Third, we had to accentuate the design of the project within budget and schedule parameters. At the end of the day, the owners, architects, designers and operations had to be happy with the lighting results.” Shining Brightly and Efficiently In total, more than 15,000 lights and lighting components were installed throughout the complex. Sufficient lighting was necessary to help ensure visibility, safety, security and enjoyment throughout the resort, while the right exterior lighting was required to enhance the ambiance of the resort.
It was Acclaim Lighting, based in Los Angeles, that supplied a majority of the lights. For the indoor water park, 436 Dyna Drum SO fixtures were specified and strategically installed and poles 30 feet above ground surfaces. Dyna Drum SO White is a high output, outdoor rated, white LED floodlight. It features an internal 100-277VAC power supply, onboard DMX+RDM driver, and each unit carries Acclaim’s Aria wireless DMX technology inside for precise control. The units come with a narrow 5º beam standard and optional quick-change spread lenses for wider applications. IP66 rated for wet locations, each Dyna Drum SO unit produces more than 6,700 lumens and 555,000 on a center candela with a 150,000-performance life so guests can easily navigate around the water activities.
“Acclaim products offer dynamic color rendering and color changing capabilities,” Sieck said. “The team loved the ability to adjust the colors to change the effect on a variety of aspects around the park. This includes adjusting to daylighting and holiday lighting projects, as well as changing elephants from white to red.” To highlight areas around the Shanga Falls, Kalahari Falls, the Pool Bar and Amatuli Bar, Flex One HO Exterior 2700K and 3000K were installed based on their ability to perform in submersed and wet locations. Flex One HO Exterior provides the best-in-class color rendering, fidelity, and gamut of any LED strip product. Flex One HO Exterior features a lumen output of up to 411 per foot with a minimum CRI of 95. According to Sieck, the combination of the products’ high output, low profile, and IP68 rating enabled them to work in wet areas without worrying about the lighting performance. For the exterior areas around the Kalahari Round Rock resort, Dyna Flood QA / QW was chosen. A high-power LED flood unit, Dyna Flood utilizes Acclaim’s quad color technology with choice of RGBA or RGBW. The Dyna Flood also features an auto switching multi-voltage power supply and on-board touch sensitive menu for quick and easy color changing abilities to match holiday and seasonal activities around the gigantic water theme park. The units have been successfully used for dynamic illumination of numerous facades, structures, landscapes, and monuments.
Aesthetics and Authenticity Two main criteria guided the overall architectural design. First, the team wanted to create an aesthetically pleasing environment that was inspired by some of the places they had visited while on their African trip. They also wanted to incorporate materials that were native to Texas to reflect a local spirt and flair. “Much of what we saw in Africa reminded us of Texas, including some of the more common building materials,” said Andrus. “That’s why we chose to use natural limestone on the exterior of the building and as a key feature within the lobby of the hotel.” The second criteria revolved around operational and efficiency of the resort layout which meant the team had to reinvent the way the project was planned. Unlike the existing properties, the Round Rock resort connects all of the major guest amenities with outdoor spaces. This created a better guest experience while also allowing for more efficient maintenance and servicing of the property. As the MEP engineering firm, Blum Consulting Engineers was charged with designing the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems that would efficiently meet the large-scale demand of a resort this size in order to reduce operating costs.
While Blum has a long history of designing large-scale resort hotels around the country, this was its first experience with the sizable indoor water park and family entertainment center. “Due to the size of this project, we had to involve multiple disciplinary contractors,” said Scott Swan, P.E., principal for Blum. “For instance, there were four electrical contractors on the project who were responsible for different areas. Keeping up with multiple, single-discipline contractors was a unique challenge in itself. All in all, though, it was a great experience, and we were proud to be a part of such a large-scale addition to Round Rock and the North Austin area.”
