The Pinky Ring
One of Las Vegas’ highly anticipated openings this year was Bruno Mars’ The Pinky Ring cocktail lounge and live music venue at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino.
Designed as an opulent adult playground, The Pinky Ring immerses patrons in an alluring ambience reminiscent of a 1970s private penthouse party.
Bruno Mars, an iconic musician with a strong sense of style, needed a design studio that would match his level of detail for aesthetics. He brought renowned global design studio Yabu Pushelberg on board to bring his vision of a new hospitality destination in Vegas to life.
With an exclusive story on the lighting concept for the venue, darc’s editor Sarah Cullen caught up with George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg, founders of the eponymous studio.
“Bruno had been searching for a design partner for The Pinky Ring for some time,” explains Yabu. “Together, we had a clear vision of the ambience we wanted to create: a sexy, smouldering cocktail lounge and jazz bar. We were introduced through MGM in September of 2022 and the project took off from there. It took about a year and a half to complete and opened in February on Super Bowl weekend, which was held in Las Vegas.”
Pushelberg adds: “Bruno was involved in the design process from start to finish. He wanted to create an adult playground reminiscent of a 1970s penthouse party, drawing from the legacy of The Rat Pack, Sammy Davis Junior, and Silk Sonic. The Pinky Ring is just that.”
“There was a clear vision for The Pinky Ring from the start — not just in how the space should look, but how it should feel,” elaborates Yabu. “The final design stays true to the original concept.”
From the moment you enter The Pinky Ring, a huge amount of consideration was taken into account to preserve the full experience of the space. Guests are greeted by a circular screen façade that protects the venue from external factors such as casino lighting and sound. Upon entry, guests are swept into another world that begins through a dimly lit mirrored passageway, outfitted with Bruno Mars’ Grammy Award collection. The corridor offers a visual palette cleanser from the outside noise of Vegas, taking inspiration from contemporary museum design, the display offers a discreet and soothing atmosphere.
“Crafting a simmering prelude to the bar and lounge, the arrival serves as a vestibule to entertainment,” describes the studio. “Guiding guests along an enticing arrival pathway, it seamlessly leads to the heart of The Pinky Ring sunken conversation pit, the centrepiece of the 5,000sqft space. See or be seen, each area is composed of its own suave and purpose that echoes into the next.
“With a clear direction for how The Pinky Ring should not only be seen, but felt, lighting played a crucial role in establishing the aura and atmosphere. In the pursuit of perpetual allure, where lighting not only transforms spaces, but perceptions, The Pinky Ring unveils a strategic lighting innovation, schemed to make people look and feel their best. Through a strategic interplay of low-level, contrast, and accent lighting, The Pinky Ring lighting design unveils the unseen.
“Circles are key symbols throughout the visual language, representing Mars’ records, awards and accolades in an abstract and tasteful way while alluding to visual nods of Palm Springs residences.”
The role of decorative lighting was an important one in achieving this desired aesthetic. “We wanted guests to feel sexy,” explains Pushelberg. “A huge part of this is the way we lit the space, so we turned to music video lighting as inspiration.
“Our lighting scheme emits the perpetual allure – it doesn’t just transform the space, it transforms perception. We wanted guests to look and feel their best.”
Yabu adds: “In music videos, people look good 100% of the time. We achieved this at The Pinky Ring by using low-level lighting positioned close to the ground. This approach allowed us to create the desired aesthetic and ambience, channelling the energy of a 1970s private penthouse party, just as Bruno had envisioned.”
“We wanted to create a distinctive lighting language that transforms the ambience throughout the course of the evening,” says Pushelberg. “When guests first arrive, they are welcomed into a warm, inviting atmosphere. As the night progresses, the environment transitions into a dynamic, vibrant setting with dramatic colour changes, perfect for dancing.”
Yabu continues: “We used the latest lighting control technology, DMX, as a system that allows multiple fixtures to be affected by a single controller. DMX lighting uses a data signal to control the intensity, colour, and other parameters of LED lights. We used LED lighting because of its adaptability. LED lighting is not only versatile and energy-efficient, but it’s also capable of controlling precise colour, temperature and intensity changes. The combination of these two technologies enabled us to create an immersive, customisable lighting experience, allowing us to achieve the music-video style lighting we were aiming for.”
“In terms of bespoke lighting, Lasvit created a custom chandelier that was designed as a replica to the chandelier that resides in Bruno’s Vegas home and hangs above the Conservation Pit,” adds Pushelberg.
The pair describe the design plan for the venue as a “performance in its own right” that pulled away from the gambling lifestyle of Las Vegas. “Yabu Pushelberg emphasised that rather than building a relationship to the happenings of the casino, it was their role to conceal it. Instead of having direct views from the casino into the bar, the studio created a strategic design plan that transports guests away from it,” explains Pushelberg.
Yabu adds: “The journey begins upon arrival, where guests are greeted by a circular screen façade, protecting The Pinky Ring experience. On the other side is the VIP booth, where we added linear grazer uplights to frame both sides of the rings. Once inside the lounge, accent lighting is woven throughout: concealed in the ceiling cove, under the countertops, in the bar shelf, and below the planters. We also added table lamps and a custom Lasvit chandelier to bring the space to life.
“The Champagne Room is one of our favourite areas; it’s intimate and secluded but has a perfect view into the lounge. We used adjustable accent lights here to spotlight the champagne bucket.
“We placed accent lights strategically to highlight and invigorate key design elements, like the lighting in the arrival corridor showcasing Bruno’s Grammy collection, but in a non-bombastic way. In the later hours, the contrast in lighting brings a new energy and vibrancy to the space, with the hues seamlessly shifting to create an ever-evolving visual experience.
“We have built and nurtured a team of talented lighting designers, who have been a part of our studio for more than five years. They help us bring our imagination to life. It is the unspoken and most impactful layer to projects. For clients who choose to bring our lighting service onto a project, like The Pinky Ring, it allows us to take the design process a step further, offering a more holistic approach overall.”
When it came to challenges on the project and with working alongside a very high-profile client, surprisingly there seemed to be very little the team couldn’t work out together.
“One of the design challenges we had was figuring out the right elevations for the Conversation Pit. It’s the centrepiece of the lounge, so we wanted to make sure it captured the attitude of the space while remaining elegant and functional.”
Pushelberg adds: One time during the creative process, Bruno was determined to go with a certain design direction that we did not feel was the best choice. Instinctually and in typical George fashion, he said: “No, no, no, no, no”. I think Bruno was initially taken aback by his response, but he appreciated the feedback and sincerity.
“Flash forward two weeks later when we were together in person, Bruno delivered the most bang-on impersonation of George: “No, no, no, no”. You have to have fun with one another. We are on the same team.”
“It was a joy to work with Bruno,” reflects Yabu. “He has a clear sense of who he is and what he wants, which made the design process smooth. He was open to collaboration and doing what is best for the project.”
With no structural constraints restricting lighting placement, it was just important for the team to ensure the decorative lighting “brought cohesiveness to the space”.
“As guests walk through each area, they can see and feel the fluidity from one space to the next,” explains Yabu. “The architectural and decorative lighting were designed together to create one layered, unified experience.”
Overall impressions of the completed project are positive ones all around. “The Pinky Ring exudes a slow-burn sexy feeling,” says Pushelberg. “Sexy can often be too obvious or cheap, but when you listen to Bruno’s music – it’s slow-burn sexy. That feeling is captured in the final design.
“We took on every aspect of the project, from interior design and lighting to styling, making sure to incorporate Bruno’s input along the way. Bruno kept things moving forward, and we had the most fun entering one another’s orbits, riffing ideas. This level of holistic involvement, and working so closely with Bruno, is what made the project stand out.”
If they could have changed anything, would they?
“I would have brought this project to life in the 70s, during the Studio 54 era,” adds Pushelberg. “There’s no way to fully recreate the energy of that time, but the closest we could get was by implementing a no-phone policy. There is freedom that comes from privacy that allows for deeper intimacy that disappears the moment someone pulls out a phone. We wanted to preserve that so people today can experience what we could at Studio 54.”
