Hero photo placeholder · drop image at images/installs/led-ceiling-austin/led-ceiling-austin-01.webp
Home / Our Work / Custom-built bar with LED pixel ceiling (sci-fi / Mayan)
Custom LED pixel ceiling · Sci-fi / Mayan theme · Custom build
A 6th Street operator wanted something nobody else had. Sci-fi-meets-Mayan architectural design language, pristine clear powerful sound, and lighting that lived inside the architecture. Off-the-shelf fixtures could not match the visual spectrum. So we built it custom. The ceiling became a 13,000-plus-pixel LED display capable of low-resolution video (think 80s video games, Pong, Space Invaders). The Mayan pyramids on the walls got pixel-mapped backlighting that interacts with the ceiling. BASSBOSS DiaMons + SSP218 + SSP118 cover the audio. ADJ lighting fills the rest. All on FBS control programming.
The brief
The operator approached us with a design vision and no product that could execute it. Initial conversations explored off-the-shelf LED solutions; nothing matched the spectrum and resolution the design called for. We proposed a custom pixel-ceiling build, framed and engineered in-house, with the existing Mayan pyramid wall art receiving custom pixel-mapped backlighting that interacts with the ceiling. The audio system had to live inside this lighting choreography without competing.
The build
| Role | Product | Qty | Why this cabinet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Custom LED pixel ceiling | 13,000+ pixel custom display ceiling | Full-room ceiling array | Custom-framed and custom-engineered LED strips. Independently addressable. Plays low-resolution video. Interacts with the wall pixel mapping. This is the centerpiece of the custom build. |
| Pixel-mapped Mayan wall backlighting | Pyramid backlit LED arrays | Each pyramid feature | Patterns from the ceiling gradually descend and "kiss" the tops of the pyramids, lighting them up to dance along with the ceiling. Choreographed lighting moments that brands cannot quote. |
| Main FOH tops | BASSBOSS DiaMons (coaxial install) | 4 cabinets | 12-inch coaxial install loudspeakers that disappear into the design language. Pristine highs, coherent imaging, low visual footprint. |
| Main FOH subs | BASSBOSS SSP218 + SSP118 cluster | 1 SSP218 + 1 SSP118 | Mixed sub configuration to fit the architectural constraints. Dual 18 carries the floor; single 18 flanks. |
| ADJ lighting fixtures | ADJ moving heads + accent panels | Throughout | Standard ADJ lighting layered on top of the custom ceiling and wall builds. Programmed scenes that integrate with the pixel choreography. |
| FBS custom integration | Audio + custom LED + ADJ on one control network | 1 main + wireless surfaces | Audio crossfades, ceiling video playback, wall pixel choreography, and ADJ lighting all run off one control surface. The operator runs the room as a single integrated experience. |
The result
A custom-built room that no other operator in the country has. The ceiling can run pixel art, low-res video, or rest as ambient wash. The walls dance with the ceiling. The audio reads pristine through it all. The operator gets to claim a uniquely customized venue that brands could not have quoted.
In their own words
From the interview
BC Helmick
Fullblast Sound (on the custom 13,000-pixel ceiling build)
This customer approached us and they wanted something different. They wanted something that nobody else had. Pristine, clear, powerful sound. After we did the initial consultation with them, they brought up some ideas of lighting that they would like to implement into the design. They wanted to integrate a sci fi meets Mayan architectural art design into this venue. So we went back and forth and somehow we came up with: it would be cool if we could get the entire scene to do visual graphics with light. Initially we were gonna do some things with off the shelf components, but we could not find anything to match the spectrum we were looking for. So we came up with an idea. Let us just go ahead and do a pixel ceiling. The idea was that we could display art above everybody's head as you walk in through the venue from the front to the rear. We could change it. We could also have it work along with the walls. The walls featured Mayan pyramids and it was very important that the pyramids were highlighted. So we did backlighting, but instead of traditional LEDs, we did LEDs with pixel mapping on them. So that means you have control over the movement of the light behind the pyramids. Taking these pyramids on the wall and adding moving light to them is cool, but what if we could also get that to interact with the ceiling, which was all pixel? Here we are with the Fullblast Sound custom installation, light and pixel ceiling. We made a frame, we made all of these strips that were 13,000 plus pixels in this installation. This ceiling will actually play low resolution video. We can even do low resolution 80s video games like Pong, possibly even Space Invaders. The ceiling interacts with the pyramids on the side. We could have a pattern or a light color looking across the scene and we could have it gradually go down and kiss the tops of the pyramids and have those pyramids light up to dance along with the ceiling. This is a really cool custom project. If you are an integrator or a venue owner and you would like something like this, or you have something else that you think is impossible, we could probably turn the impossible into possible for you. Fullblast Sound and Lights sells BASSBOSS speakers and off the shelf intelligent lighting as well as video and control systems. We also do custom stuff. Anything you can think of, we would love to help you on your project.
Inside the room
Watch the install
Want this for your venue?
ACH discounts available. Most quotes go out the same business day, written by real people, no scripts.