A soaring architectural landmark to be named “The Sails at Omura Bay” and depicting the sails of a ship waving in the breeze had formed the basis of the integrated resort concept proposed for Nagasaki by Oshidori International Development.
Inside Asian Gaming has obtained exclusive access to architectural renderings of Oshidori’s proposed Japanese IR, which would have come to fruition had the company won prefectural and national approval. Instead, Oshidori withdrew from the race on 6 August, citing unreasonable RFP rules and ethical concerns over the bidding process.
Casinos Austria was named as Nagasaki’s preferred operator partner just days later and will now work with the prefecture on finalizing their proposal to submit to the national government before 28 April 2022. Nagasaki announced that Casinos Austria received a score of 697.0 points under the prefecture’s scoring system, with Oshidori’s concept coming in a close second and only 2% behind with a 682.8 point score, despite their withdrawal. The third group in the bidding, NIKI Chyau (Parkview) Group, brought up the rear with 667.1 points, notably only slightly behind.
Taking inspiration from a requirement in Nagasaki’s RFP to create a concept that is “unprecedented in Japan in terms of size and quality”, the design of the Sails at Omura Bay Resort is highlighted by the Sails Tower – a series of flowing sails shaped by the force of the wind and inspired by the Hansen Matsuri, Nagasaki’s Tall Ships Festival.
Lit by 100,000 individual points of light which would have seen it “sparkle in the night like a sea of diamonds,” the environmentally-friendly sails tower was also to comprise a material composition employing sophisticated technologies to realistically reflect the movement of real ship sails.
“The sails tower will be an architectural landmark in harmonious balance with and deference to its very important and iconic neighbor, the Domtoren Tower at the Huis Ten Bosch Park,” Oshidori explains in its notes.
“This important relationship across the canal allows each tower to exist as landmarks of their own language and time in their respective precincts of the bay.
“The sail tower’s iconic design firmly establishes the Kyushu/Nagasaki presence on a regional, national, and international platform by signifying a proud connection between the past and the future of Nagasaki.”
IAG asked Nagasaki prefecture to release the renderings of the three companies but they refused to do so until after its official agreement with Casinos Austria is signed. We then asked all three candidates to have progressed through to the final round of Nagasaki’s RFP – Casinos Austria, Oshidori and NIKI Chyau (Parkview) Group – for their renderings. Oshidori was the only candidate to do so, with Casinos Austria preferring to wait and NIKI refusing to provide.
Casinos Austria did, however, attach a single image to a press release it sent last week providing some details about its successful IR proposal. They include a 9,000 square meter casino with 220 gaming tables and 2,200 slot machines plus eight hotels including some by Hyatt Hotel Group.
Based on these renderings alone, Oshidori’s proposal appears to compare very favorably with Casinos Austria’s offer, although apparently not enough to win the favor of Nagasaki officials.
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