Roger Thomas

Roger Thomas (born November 4, 1951) is an American interior designer best known for his work on resort hotels and casinos in Las Vegas, including the Bellagio, Wynn Las Vegas, and Encore Las Vegas He was the Executive Vice President of Design for Wynn Design & Development, before retiring in 2020, and principal of the Roger Thomas Collection. Thomas has been named five times to the Architectural Digest AD100 list of the world's preeminent architects and designers,

Early life Thomas was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the 1950s, his father, E. Parry Thomas, was CEO of the Bank of Las Vegas, the only bank willing to loan money to area casinos.

After spending his final two years of high school at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, Michigan, Thomas earned a BFA in art history from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in partnership with Tufts University, He also received an honorary master's degree from the Interior Design Institute.

Career

Interior Designer In 1974, Thomas began designing interiors for banks and other financial institutions. He spent seven years running the Las Vegas office of design house Yates Silverman, designed penthouses for the Stardust Resort and Casino, and designed his first casino, the Lady Luck (now the Downtown Grand), in a Saturday Night Fever motif. It was the Las Vegas’ first megaresort, having 3,044 rooms. Thomas's work designing the interiors of the tropical-themed Mirage and swashbuckler-themed Treasure Island, which opened in 1993, played a key role in reshaping Las Vegas properties.

Beginning with the interior design for The Bellagio, which opened in 1998, Wynn and Thomas "reinvented the look of the modern gambling hall by deliberately violating every previously accepted rule of casino design," helping Wynn's hotels achieve an original, more luxurious approach. It was designed to put gamblers at ease, with high ceilings, European-style furnishings and a wide-open, axial, easy-to-navigate layout. The Bellagio would generate the largest profits for a single Las Vegas property in the city's history.

Following the sale of Mirage Resorts to MGM Resorts in 2000, Thomas led design for the newly formed Wynn Resorts, beginning with the Wynn Las Vegas, which opened in 2005. Thomas has also designed interiors for the Wynn Macau in China, which opened in 2006, the $2.3 billion, 2,000-room Encore at Wynn Las Vegas in 2009, He oversaw design of the Wynn Palace, also in Macau, a $4.2 billion resort which opened in August 2016. His final project for Wynn was designing the interiors for Encore Boston Harbor, which opened in June 2019. Thomas retired from Wynn in 2020, and was succeeded by Todd-Avery Lenahan.

Thomas's opulent style is heavily influenced by 16th-century Italian architect Andrea Palladio, 18th-century French architecture and interiors, and 20th-century French, Austrian and US modernists. Thomas has created signature collections and pieces for brands including Quintus, Global Views, Eric Brand, Townsend Leather, Speakman, Fromental, Maya Romanoff, S. Harris, Samuel & Sons, Sicis Jewels, Boyd Lighting, Koroseal and OW Hospitality. He received three Interior Design Best of Year Awards nominations through the Roger Thomas Collection, and won in 2019 for his work on the Scorpio sconce for Boyd Lighting.

Board Memberships Thomas serves on the Italian board of Venetian Heritage, and is a founding board member of the upcoming Las Vegas Museum of Art, which is currently planned to begin construction by 2027. He was a founding board member of the Smith Center for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas, and formerly chaired the Collections Committee at The Neon Museum.

Book In 2024, Roger Thomas wrote his first book, Resort Style: Spaces of Celebration. Published by Rizzoli, the book has a collection of essays discussing “Evocatecture”, and the emotional themes and layouts of his resort designs. Paris, Milan, New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco

Personal life Thomas is a lifelong resident of Las Vegas, Nevada, and currently maintains homes in Venice, Italy and Marin County, California. He came out as gay at the age of 45, 2008 International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show Roger Thomas Designer of the Year 2010 Architectural Digest Roger Thomas AD100: Top 100 Architecture & Interior Design 2011 University of Nevada, Las Vegas Roger Thomas Hall of Fame

Architectural Digest The Roger Thomas Collection AD100: Top 100 Architecture & Interior Design Academy of Art University Roger Thomas Art Design Icon of the Year 2014 Architectural Digest The Roger Thomas Collection AD100: Top 100 Architecture & Interior Design 2015 Interior Design Roger Thomas Hall of Fame Inductee 2017 Architectural Digest The Roger Thomas Collection AD100: Top 100 Architecture & Interior Design

Boston Design Week Roger Thomas Lifetime Achievement Award

Scorpio for Boyd Lighting Best of Year Awards, Sconce Roger Thomas Collection for Rocky Mountain Hardware Best of Year Awards, Hardware Honoree