Architects: Studio Daniel Libeskind
Role: Structural engineering services
Halcrow Yolles provided structural engineering services for the award-winning Crystals™, a more than 500,000 square foot high-end retail, entertainment and dining complex in Las Vegas, Nevada. Crystals is part of CityCenter, the largest, most significant privately funded project in the United States and one of the world’s largest green developments.
Highlights of the completed Crystals structure include a below-grade garage, three levels of retail space and an uncommonly beautiful roof structure formed by the intermingling of 19 separate planar and arcade roofs. Thousands of immense leaning columns, curving trusses and straight members made of 16,455 uniquely fabricated pieces of steel overlap and lie askew to provide the striking roof shape. In total, 13,900 tons of steel were used to construct the six arcade roofs and 13 planar roofs, which connect at different angles to converge at the height of the building. The arcade roofs also include skylights that set off the distinct and elegant interior through natural lighting.
Beneath the roofs lies a collection of international elite couture and luxury shops, a traditional English pub by Todd English, Eva Longoria-Parker’s BESO VEGAS and two restaurant concepts by Wolfgang Puck. In addition, guests have access to the Halcrow Yolles–designed Crystals Automatic People Mover (APM) station, the only APM station in CityCenter.
All steel used for the project was recycled, helping Crystals to earn its LEED® Gold certification, and the design challenges presented by the complex angles and unique orientation imagined by Studio Daniel Libeskind were addressed with the input and expertise of Halcrow Yolles’s Studio for Progressive Modelling.