Klai Juba Wald – founded in 1995 and specializing in hospitality architecture + interiors – creates and shapes award-winning integrated resorts anchored by entertainment, gaming, retail, dining, convention and sports venues. Since 1978, founding principals John Klai and Dan Juba developed a solid reputation, and with principals John Wald, Brian Fink, and Michael Stewart, Klai Juba Wald has been recognized as a forerunner in Las Vegas architecture for 26-plus years. Ann Fleming recently joined the firm as principal of the new interiors division. Collectively, Klai Juba Wald’s principals have 160-plus years of history witnessing the evolution and reinvention of Las Vegas, and playing key leadership roles in design, development, construction, ownership and operations on many of the city’s icons.
The firm led, and served as AOR for the entire Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, including the Four Seasons Las Vegas and THEhotel/DELANO – and the highly successful Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino projects in Tampa and Hollywood, FL. Klai Juba Wald also delivered the country’s first-ever LEED Gold Rivers casino outside Chicago, Maryland LIVE!, the Eastside Cannery Casino/Hotel, as well as SKY Las Vegas, Panorama Towers, Restoration Hardware’s Las Vegas flagship and the LINQ Promenade’s dining, retail and entertainment district, including Brooklyn Bowl, featuring the world’s largest ‘Vegas High Roller’ observation wheel. More recent local works include the Fertitta Football Complex, the Thomas & Mack Modernization and its West ‘Strip-view’ Addition for UNLV.
Klai Juba Wald also led the way with the remodel and expansion of MGM Grand Las Vegas, Luxor, Hard Rock Las Vegas, The Orleans, Silverton, Planet Hollywood, Palms Casino Resort, and Boyd’s California and Delta Downs Louisiana – all examples where mitigating disruption of an existing operation was a key priority. We have managed the construction documents and process for leading “starchitect” designers, and have participated in shaping many of the dining, retail and entertainment venues at Cosmopolitan Las Vegas, including Chelsea, Beauty & Essex, and ‘Rose. Rabbit. Lie.’, and the NOBU Hotel experience at Caesars Palace.
The frequent AIA Las Vegas “Friend of the Chapter,” and AIA Nevada’s 2004 Firm of the Year and 2002 Patron Award recipient continues to serve many loyal clients, taking pride in nurturing enduring relationships while providing vision, leadership and support to architectural education and practice across the region. Klai Juba Wald is equally proud of its namesake lecture series, founded in 1997 for the UNLV School of Architecture, bridging professional practice, academia and the community, always expanding awareness and understanding the value of design in our world. Klai Juba Wald is grateful to and celebrates the longevity of its many loyal, committed employees and remains “proud of every endeavor – our work, reputation and the company we keep.”