Color Kinetics Showcase Sandcastle Waterworld's Masterblaster

Blackpool’s Sandcastle Waterworld is one of the UK’s premier indoor water parks, featuring the world’s longest indoor rollercoaster waterslide, the Masterblaster. The waterslide is the first uphill water ride of its kind, traveling at roof height and encompassing the entire water park.

To attract new clientele to the water park, lighting designer Greg McLenahan was tasked to conceptualize a colorful and inviting lighting structure to outline the exterior of the Masterblaster waterslide. McLenahan overcame many challenges to make this concept a reality, the first being the close proximity of the sea to the water park. Sandcastle Waterworld needed reliable lighting units capable of withstanding harsh weather conditions. The second challenge required that once complete, the lighting units needed little to no maintenance. Constantly changing burned out bulbs or replacing colored gels and filters would be an arduous task, consuming the water park’s time and limited resources. Flexibility was the most significant requirement; the lighting needed to bend to frame the exterior of the tubular structure.

McLenahan chose Color Kinetics® iColor® Flex SLX, a multi-purpose LED string lighting solution, to light the project. Based on LED lighting technology, the 50-node strands are reliable and energy efficient. In addition, iColor Flex SLX is designed for outdoor use, capable of withstanding extreme high and low temperatures. Its string-like form provides the ultimate flexibility needed, and the high-intensity node of light allows for the Masterblaster to be seen across the park and beyond its borders. The installation includes a total of 1,000 nodes, which are secured with the product’s optional mounting clips. A series of lighting effects were authored for the feature and are controlled by a DMX system. The structure runs several light shows ranging from static to graduated colors. In addition, the ride displays a chase effect with various colors running up and down the flume, as well as in circular motions around the tube structure. This is made possible by the individually controllable nature of the iColor Flex SLX nodes.

“Color Kinetics provided us with a superior product which is proving to be extremely reliable,” said McLenahan. “And we have fulfilled our promise to the client by providing a stunning eye-catching lighting system to attract riders by the masses.”