Nike: House of Innovation
A story of five stories.
When you get asked to build a video wall that spans five floors, you just do it.
Unlike typical direct-view LED installations, the request in this case was for a more lo-fi pixel art aesthetic. The framework was to be industrial blackened steel, with visible weld marks and a “straight from the foundry” feel.
We had to develop the panels as a custom piece (as they had to be front-serviceable for repair, only use white LEDs, and attach magnetically to the framework), and come up with a fabrication methodology for the frame that would have the right look.
Since each floor had different ceiling and wall conditions, I modeled and rendered out each set of frames to ascertain the most effective array sizes and configurations.
It came down to three 9x4 arrays, a 13x4, and a 14x4.
From a physical assembly standpoint, there were two primary issues we had to take into account.
1. Standard steel angle profiles didn’t have a large enough inner lip to make a solid connection with the magnetic LED panels. Since manufacturing a custom profile was out of the question due to time, budget, and size constraints, the next best solution was to weld in an inset plate that would properly accept the panels.
2. The steel support frames had to be broken into two pieces for transport due to their size and weight, but had to look completely seamless when installed. I devised a relatively simple system using steel tubing that could be welded onto the framework, while still allowing for leveling adjustments between the upper and lower sections.
The LED panels themselves were manufactured to our specifications based on 3 criteria.
1. They had to have a 10mm pixel pitch.
2. They had to be flexible and attach magnetically for easy servicing.
3. All 216 panels had to be able to run across all 5 floors with synchronized content.
3a. With a redundant media playback solution for invisible fail-over if a hardware malfunction occurred.
My conceptual rendering showing 4th floor installation.
4th floor wall installed.
The store opened in November of 2018. The display has been running 24/7 since installation without any measurable down-time.
