The new 40,000 square foot Funko Store on Hollywood Boulevard in California is only the second brick and mortar store for the popular toy brand and double the size of the original store in Everett, WA. The design concept is to be a fully immersive shopping experience with the feel of a themed-environment. The store contains multiple character rooms (or lands), including Harry Potter, Guardians of the Galaxy, Star Wars, and Saturday Morning Cartoons, each flowing into the next land, and recreating the tone of the movie or show represented.
Initially contacted by the owner's representative, Newmark Knight Frank, to assist with integrating the design into the construction process, Barbizon Lighting worked closely with the construction team to ensure that KGM Architectural Lighting's design was executed as efficiently and effectively as possible. Electronic Theatre Controls Sensor IQ panels and Paradigm Control System were used to control all of the theatrical lighting fixtures, and the 4-port Gateways distributed the network data throughout the themed rooms, making for a stable stream of data, and preventing the need for multiple runs of cable through the wall and back into the Paradigm system.
Working in collaboration with the local manufacturer's representative MPA and the Electrical Contractor R&R, the control system implemented enhanced the theme park atmosphere throughout the store and to give employees greater control over the complete system. Using Electronic Theatre Controls Color Source series of Deep Blue Spots, Pars and Linear LED fixtures provided deep color saturation and flexibility to light the intricate set pieces created by Jet Sets in each land.
Times Square Lighting's Mosaic Flood LED fixtures were used to spotlight the Funko toys themselves within each particular room. To aid in creating some of the more challenging elements, TMB Solaris LED Strobes, and Rosco X-Effects projectors make it appear to "snow" inside the FROZEN land, to produce lightning and clouds in the Horror room, and create strobe and other effects in the Pennywise Sewer.
While a project of this complexity encountered a few challenges, namely a very tight timeline for installation and project completion, the most surprising challenge was actually the logistics of delivering everything on the famed Hollywood Boulevard during peak traffic hours! Once that was accomplished, lighting crews worked around set construction and installation to hang and focus almost 400 lighting fixtures, and program all of the scenic elements that created each room's atmosphere.
Design & Installation Partners
- Funko Inc. – Randy Harvey, Aaron Haba, Heidi Ray
- Owners Representative - Kenneth Falcon, Newmark Knight Frank
- KGM Architectural Lighting – Colleen Peach
- General Contractor – Kevin George, Corporate Contractors
- Engineering – TK Wong, Arc Engineering
- MPA Lighting & Controls – Derick Sheehan
- Electrical Installation – Primo Rangel, R&R Electric
- Scenic Elements - Jet Sets
- Barbizon Master Electrician/Programmer – Thomas Schneider
- Barbizon System Integrator - David Smith
Equipment List
- (124) ETC ColorSource Spot DeepBlue
- (83) ETC ColorSource Par DeepBlue
- (4) ETC ColorSource Linear .5m DeepBlue
- (1) ETC Irideon WLZ
- (9) Rosco X-Effects
- (2) Solaris SoLED, W840 LED Strobe
- (168) Times Square Lighting Mosaic Flood RGBW
- (1) ETC Paradigm Control System
- (4) ETC Sensor IQ48
- (4) ETC Echo Relay Panel 24
- (32) ETC Response MK2 4-port Gateway - DIN Rail