The Pittsburgh Gaming Task Force will brief the city Planning Commission Sept. 12 on its recommended design guidelines for the high-profile slots casino coming to Pittsburgh.

The task force met yesterday to go over its design ideas, which include a strong recommendation that whoever gets the city's slots license -- Forest City/Harrah's, Isle of Capri or Detroit developer Don Barden -- the winner should use "high quality construction materials'' for the casino and related buildings, such as a parking garage, hotel, restaurants and shops. It recommends materials such as stone, glass, metal, concrete or brick.

Mary Navarro, chairwoman of the task force's design committee, also urged that the casino not be isolated from surrounding shops, restaurants, or other buildings, but work in such a way that tourists, visitors and gamblers can easily go back and forth between the casino and the city's other attractions.

"We don't want the casino to be an island or a fortress that has no relation to adjoining businesses or amenities,'' she said.

The size and shape of the building also was discussed. She said that under the city zoning code, it would have to be at least two stories in height.

That is a crucial concern, she said, because task force members don't want the casino to be "one long, low building that is not appropriate for an urban environment.''

It would probably be difficult to fit a huge casino, crammed with thousands of slot machines on just one level, plus a large surface lot or garage, into the locations being discussed -- either Station Square, the lower Hill District or the North Shore.

A parking garage will almost certainly be necessary for the casino, and the size of the garage is another concern.

Task Force Co-Chair Anne Swager, director of the American Institute of Architects' Pittsburgh chapter, said gaming industry standards call for one parking space for each slot machine.

The Pennsylvania slots law permits 12 of Pennsylvania's 14 casinos (all except the two smaller resort hotel casinos) to have up to 5,000 slots. However, most of the casino developers have talked initially about having 2,000 to 3,000 machines.

Ms. Swager said a parking garage of 2,000 to 3,000 cars would still be a huge structure, and she doesn't want it to overwhelm its location or destroy valuable "sight lines'' along the city's rivers or from the hilltops.

Traffic congestion is another major consideration. While each developer has done a traffic impact study on the effect of a casino in each location, the task force is hoping to have an independent study done.

However, Ms. Swager said, that costs money, and the task force has asked the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to pay for the study. The gaming board hasn't said if it will do so.

The three locations in competition for the city's lone casino are Station Square along the Mon River; the lower Hill, across Centre Avenue from Mellon Arena (which would be razed and a new arena built next to the casino); and the North Shore, between the Carnegie Science Center and the West End Bridge.

The task force doesn't have any legal authority to demand that the successful casino developer follow its guidelines.

But Ms. Swager said it does have "a bully pulpit,'' meaning bringing the force of public pressure to bear, if necessary, to ensure that Pittsburgh's casino will be an attractive addition to the city's architecture.

"We hope our ideas and thoughts will be carefully considered'' by the casino developer, she said.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has said it expects to make a decision Dec. 20 on which developer will get the lone slots license earmarked for Pittsburgh.