WONDERYARD

THE CHALLENGE

Wonderyard is a bar-forward restaurant and private event venue in Denver, built from the ground up. The design challenge was building a single AV environment that serves two very different operational contexts without any technical reconfiguration between them. Daily bar and dining service requires a system that runs reliably, sounds right at every level from quiet afternoon service to a busy weekend night, and is simple enough for bar staff to operate independently. Private events and venue rentals require that same system to step up and function as a full venue environment with a video wall, a programmable LED ceiling, and lighting that transforms the room.

Most venues compromise one context for the other. The sound system is great for events but overwhelming for dinner. The lighting is dramatic for events but wrong for daily service. The control system works for technicians but not for bar staff. Wonderyard needed a system designed to handle both without compromise, operated from a single control infrastructure that any staff member could run.

WHAT WE BUILT

INDOOR AUDIO — BIAMP, FULCRUM, POWERSOFT, ASHLY

Biamp and Fulcrum speaker systems throughout the interior, driven by Powersoft amplification and processed through Ashly. High-output, full-range coverage across a large-format bar and restaurant with the acoustic complexity that comes with it: hard surfaces, open volumes, and a room that runs from quiet afternoon service to a full busy weekend night. Every zone was tuned for the specific acoustic character of the space.

JBL AUDIO — OUTDOOR

JBL speaker systems extending the sound environment to the exterior spaces. Designed for the coverage patterns and output requirements of an urban outdoor venue, where ambient noise from the surrounding environment is a constant variable and even coverage across the outdoor footprint is the baseline requirement.

33.5-FOOT LED TILE VIDEO WALL

A 33.5ft by 6.5ft LED tile video wall as the centerpiece visual element of the venue. Installed, calibrated, and integrated with the venue's content system. Designed for the viewing distances, ambient light levels, and range of content types Wonderyard runs across daily service and private events.

450-PUCK LED CEILING MATRIX — MADRIX

A 15x30 matrix of individually addressable LED pucks across the dancefloor ceiling. 450 fixtures running as a unified MADRIX system. Every puck independently controllable. The full ceiling becomes a single programmable visual surface that can run slow ambient color for bar and dining service and high-energy effects for private events, all from the same system without any reconfiguration.

MOVING HEADS, LASERS AND HAZERS

Moving head fixtures, laser systems, and hazers integrated into the full lighting environment. All systems coordinated through the venue's control infrastructure so the full room shifts together when the programming changes.

FIVE INDEPENDENT AUDIO ZONES

Five independently controllable audio zones across the venue. Different areas can run different sources, different levels, and different configurations simultaneously. The bar running its own programming while the dining room runs another source and the outdoor patio runs a third is a normal operational reality at Wonderyard. The zone design was built around exactly that.

EXECUTION

ESP designed and installed every system in the building from the ground up as a single integrated scope. Audio, video, LED, and lighting were all specified to work together from the start rather than designed independently and integrated after the fact. Systems that are designed together share a common control infrastructure, respond predictably to each other, and can be operated as one environment rather than several separate ones running in parallel.

Pre-production included full CAD modeling and system design before installation began. Every zone, every signal path, every control point, and every equipment position was planned in detail before anything went into the building. By the time installation started, every decision had already been made on paper.

THE RESULT

Wonderyard opened with a complete, integrated AV environment across every system in the building. The 450-puck MADRIX ceiling matrix is one of the most sophisticated permanent LED installations in Colorado. The Fulcrum audio, LED wall, and full lighting system work as a unified environment designed from day one to perform as one, whether the room is running daily bar and dining service or a full private event. Bar staff run the system daily without technical support. When a private event comes in, the same system handles it without any additional setup or outside crew.

450  INDIVIDUALLY ADDRESSABLE LED PUCKS, MADRIX CONTROLLED

33.5 ft  LED TILE VIDEO WALL

5  INDEPENDENT AUDIO ZONES, FULCRUM ACOUSTIC