In a serendipitous tribute to the legacy of the Seminole Tribe, over 3,500 square feet of Australian sandstone, quarried and fabricated by Gosford Quarries, was used to stylize the lounge area and panel walls within the resort. Natural sandstone has a history with the Seminole Indians, as the deserts in Colorado -- the birthplace of the Seminole Tribe -- are home to one of the largest sandstone landscapes.
Perhaps the most dramatic use of sandstone at the Tampa Hard Rock location is the “firewalls†within the lounge. This unique space called for a unique design, and designer Larry Lee of Laurence Lee Associates took his inspiration from the “Rum Jungle†bar and restaurant at the Mandalay Bay Casino in Las Vegas. “We wanted movement,†said Lee. “I felt that water has been overdone and can seem redundant, and what is the direct opposite of that…fire. It was a just a question of how to use it, and then I thought of the Rum Jungle.â€