By
ETC light fixtures have long lived in entertainment venues and retail spaces. Those two worlds collided as Jordan’s Furniture began building the world’s largest indoor ropes course as a part of its New Haven store.
Bringing new meaning to business in the front and party in the back, the front of the building is a 150,000 sq. foot showroom of furniture and mattresses, while the back houses the It™ Adventure Indoor Ropes Course. This installation is in line with President and CEO Eliot Tatelman’s vision of the Jordan’s experience as a “shoppertainment” experience. Depending on which Jordan’s location you’re at, you can go ice skating, see an IMAX movie or view a laser light show during your visit.
When building the ropes course in the New Haven location, Tatelman wanted the space to be nothing short of spectacular. In addition to the 60 foot high course, the area features zip lines, a free fall jump, and an 80 foot long water show.
Constructed in what used to be a newspaper printing factory, designing the ropes course and water show required a lot of creative vision. Clair Solutions worked hand in hand with the ropes course engineers to incorporate the speakers and light fixtures within the course structure.
“One of the largest challenges we faced was that there wasn’t any infrastructure in place to light the course,” said Michelle Caron, theatrical lighting designer of Clair Solutions.
The building did not allow for anything to be rigged on the roof or the walls, which meant Clair Solutions and the ropes course builders had to construct a special solution. To safely house the new fixtures in the space, the team had to mount the lighting and audio gear onto the ropes course itself.
“Although the light fixtures are still accessible, the unique positioning makes maintenance in this space more challenging,” said Caron. “We needed solid light fixtures that would run every day with little upkeep. Brightness and color value were also a top priority when we selected the fixtures.”
The lighting system features 200 Source Four LED Series 2 Lustrs as well as 6 High End Solaspot CMY LED moving lights. The Solaspots light the walls and floors with washes of pattern and have custom It™ gobos to highlight the Jordan’s brand.
The Lustr fixtures helped Clair Solutions achieve an aesthetic balance across the variety of surfaces within the space. In addition to the challenge of lighting across shiny steel, matte, and unfinished concrete elements, Caron had to consider the water show.
The water show runs every 2-3 minutes and requires low light conditions—but the room can’t go completely dark while customers are climbing. Clair Solutions carefully placed each fixture to light away from the water tank. Depending on if the water show is running or not, the colors and intensities of the lighting system change.
“Now that the ropes course is open to the public, visitors are there at all times of the day from morning to close,” said Caron. “It really is a family place. Part of the reason it’s so inviting is because of the dynamic lighting and audio systems.”
To catch a glimpse of the It™ Adventure Ropes course in action, watch the below clip.
