SoulCycle Hudson Yards is a spin studio meets light art-installation experience in the Hudson Yards complex in New York City. Eos Lightmedia worked exclusively with SoulCycle to develop an in-class lighting experience that gave the studio’s instructors the ability to curate their own light shows that accompany their class's music.
Riders entering the studio are welcomed into a dimly-lit room with spin bikes lined in rows across the space. Above the riders, surrounding the circumference of the ceiling is a structural light element referred to as the Halo. The Halo is a custom LED lightbox programmed to change color and pulse to the rhythm of the spin instructor’s music. Each instructor has a custom iPad interface that allows for control of the color, movement and intensity of all lighting in the room. This allows the instructors to create a rider experience that is unique to their teaching style. The Halo can demonstrate a series of movement effects as well as effects that are purely audio-reactive. The system is designed to take an audio input from the instructor’s computers and translate the signal into lighting effects that respond to the beat and rhythm.
The exterior of the SoulCycle Hudson Yards building is covered with over 1,500 colour-changing diffuse LED pixels. The layout of the lights was designed to not mimic a traditional video display but rather to create organic imagery that radiates across the storefront facade. Custom panels were designed that allowed for the precise blend of illumination and diffusion to achieve the desired effect. Shows were designed that accentuate the building’s architectural features while utilizing SoulCycle’s champagne gold branding.
The biggest challenge facing the design of the experience was to create lighting elements that are unique to the SoulCycle brand. Many other spin studios rely heavily on high energy, direct-view luminaries. SoulCycle wanted an experience that is capable of being high-energy but can facilitate relaxed and zen moments.The idea was also to avoid making the space to feel like a nightclub. This led to a lot of prototyping for both the Halo and storefront LED panels. Many mockups were done to discover the appropriate form, materials and accompanying LED fixtures to utilize to reach the client's objectives. For that reason, off-the-shelf controllers were not suitable in achieving the level of flexibility and reactivity needed for the experience. A custom solution was designed, and scripted that merged two industry leading controllers with a bespoke iPad interface.
Lead Lighting Designer: Scott Hendrickson
Show Designer & Programmer: Stefan Zubovic
Studio Equipment
- 1x Pharos LPC 2
- 1x Madrix 5 on PC
- 1x Apple iPad Pro
- 1x Pharos Button Station
- 125’ Custom Halo light element with GVA Highlighter HL-DL RGB fixtures
- 12x Rosco MIRO CUBE UV365
- 3x PRG RHA-LED Projector
Storefront Facade Equipment
- 1x Pharos LPC X 20
- 14x Custom LED panels with 1800 Philips Color Kinetics IColor Flex LMX nodes