How interactive media turns a restaurant into a sci‑fi voyage
Release time:
2026-06-15
This case study is based on our completed project for CELEST (2024). The CELEST spherical LED Moon is not a screen – it is a storytelling engine.this project demonstrates a repeatable pattern: use custom interactive media to give your space a unique, unforgettable voice.
Bringing a Lunar Sci-Fi Tale to Life: Our Interactive Sphere & Immersive Installation Project for CELEST Rotterdam
Introduction
When DoepelStrijkers Architects reached out to us about a new hospitality project atop Zalmhaven — the tallest tower in the Benelux — we knew this would be one of those rare briefs that sits right at the intersection of narrative, engineering, and real-time interaction. The ask: help bring Edgar Allan Poe’s 1835 proto-sci-fi tale The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaallto life for CELEST, a destination restaurant and cocktail bar opening on the 57th and 58th floors.
Tasked by RNDR and DoepelStrijkers Architects, our team took charge of the core hardware production, technical integration, interactive system deployment and on-site assist installation of the project’s star attraction: a custom P1.86 2.5-meter diameter spherical LED installation that sits at the heart of the guest experience.Today, we’re sharing the behind-the-scenes of this high-altitude, story-driven project.
The Creative Challenge: Making the Moon “Touchable”
Poe’s story follows Hans Pfaall, a Rotterdam craftsman who escapes to the moon in a homemade hot air balloon — complete with 19 days of atmospheric observations, a landing on volcanic lunar terrain, and a years-long stay among the moon’s strange inhabitants. The design team wanted the installation to feel like an artifact from that world: not a static decorative object, but something visitors could actively explore.
Our role was to translate that narrative into a physical, responsive system. The core requirements were clear:
- A seamless spherical display surface with no visible bezels or breaks
- Real-time interactivity tied to a physical trackball controller
- High brightness and color accuracy to hold up in a floor-to-ceiling glass space 200+ meters above Rotterdam
- Long-term reliability with minimal maintenance access
As the hardware production and technical implementation partner, our mission was to turn these artistic and creative concepts into reliable, durable and user-friendly physical products, while overcoming multiple technical challenges brought by the super-large sphere, interactive linkage and high-rise construction.
Remote Installation
Support in Progress
Our Core Capabilities & Project Execution
From technical consultation, custom R&D, production manufacturing to on-site assist installation, debugging and after-sales support, we delivered a full one-stop service, demonstrating our comprehensive strengths in large-scale interactive display projects.
Custom R&D & Production of the Giant Lunar LED Sphere
The 2.5-meter lunar sphere is the visual centerpiece of CELEST. Unlike conventional flat LED screens, spherical displays pose huge challenges in panel splicing, curvature adaptation, image distortion correction and structural load-bearing — especially for a device suspended between the 57th and 58th floors of a super high-rise building.
Custom Module Design & Manufacturing
We independently developed dedicated curved LED modules tailored for the lunar sphere. After dozens of curvature tests and mold revisions, we ensured every panel fits the 2.5-meter spherical radian perfectly, with seamless splicing and no obvious gaps. To restore the delicate texture of the lunar surface, we selected high-gray-scale, high-color-rendering LED lamp beads, which accurately present the uneven terrain, craters and light and shadow changes of the Moon under different sunlight angles. All modules are produced in our own factory, with strict quality control for waterproofing, dustproofing and anti-aging to adapt to long-term indoor commercial operation.
Weight & Structural Optimization for High-Rise Suspension
Zalmhaventoren, as a prefabricated super high-rise building, has strict restrictions on the load of suspended equipment. Our engineering team conducted repeated structural calculations and material selection, adopting lightweight aviation-grade aluminum brackets and hollow reinforced frames. While ensuring the overall structural stability of the sphere, we greatly reduced the total weight of the equipment, fully meeting the building’s safety load standards. Meanwhile, we designed a special shock-absorbing suspension structure to avoid equipment jitter caused by high-rise air flow, guaranteeing stable display effects.
Durability & Long-Term Operation Guarantee
As a commercial restaurant and bar open to the public all year round, the equipment needs to run stably for a long time and adapt to high-frequency use. We fully considered the long-term operation demands in the production and design stage:
- All electronic components adopt industrial-grade materials, with a service life of more than 100,000 hours;
- The circuit system is equipped with overvoltage, overcurrent and leakage protection to ensure the safety of personnel and equipment.
Project Effect & Client Feedback
After the official opening of CELEST, the entire lunar-themed immersive experience has become a landmark highlight of Zalmhaventoren and even Rotterdam’s cultural and creative scene.
From the 30-second elevator journey that condenses Hans Pfaall’s 19-day balloon voyage from Earth to the Moon, to peering through the telescope to watch the story of lunar travel, to rotating the trackball to explore every corner of the Moon, and finally walking through the corridor accompanied by changing lunar phases — every link presents a shocking sensory experience, and all interactive equipment runs stably for a long time.
The client highly recognized our professional capabilities: they praised our team for perfectly translating creative ideas into physical installations, overcoming multiple technical difficulties of super-large spherical screens and high-rise installation, and delivering products and services that fully meet the artistic and practical requirements. Up to now, CELEST has become a popular check-in spot for local citizens and tourists, and our interactive display equipment has become an important part of its brand experience.
Our Core Advantages & Service Philosophy
This Dutch lunar sphere and full-set interactive installation project is a typical showcase of our comprehensive strength in the field of custom immersive interactive displays. Summarizing our core competitiveness for similar large-scale creative installation projects:
Independent R&D & Full-Chain Production: We own factories and R&D teams, covering mold development, module production, hardware assembly and software programming. We can customize products of different sizes, shapes and functions according to creative demands, with controllable quality and cycle.
Rich Experience in Special-Shaped Screens: We have accumulated mature technical solutions for spherical, curved, irregular LED displays, and can solve difficult problems such as radian fitting, image correction and structural load-bearing.
Complete Interactive System Integration: Capable of independently developing interactive logic, realizing the linkage of trackballs, sensors, telescopes, somatosensory and other equipment, to create a unified immersive experience.
Professional High-Rise & Complex Space Construction: With standardized high-altitude construction processes and safety management systems, we are suitable for super high-rise buildings, commercial complexes, scenic spots, museums and other complex scenarios.
One-Stop Turnkey Service: From early technical consultation and scheme design, to mid-term production and installation, to later debugging and after-sales maintenance, we provide full-process support to save communication and management costs for clients.
Conclusion
From Edgar Allan Poe’s 19th-century sci-fi imagination to the 21st-century immersive interactive experience on the top floor of Rotterdam’s tallest building, technology has turned a classic lunar travel story into reality. We are honored to participate in the CELEST project and use our manufacturing strength and technical capabilities to add luster to this artistic space.
We specialize in custom large-scale LED spheres, curved screens, interactive installations and immersive experiential hardware production and integration. Whether it is themed restaurants, art exhibition halls, commercial spaces, museums or tourist attractions, we can tailor exclusive interactive display solutions according to your creative concepts and site conditions.
If you have demands for special-shaped display project, interactive art installations and turnkey experiential projects, feel free to contact us https://www.jodeled.com/ We look forward to cooperating with more global design teams, architects and brand clients to create more impressive immersive space works.
This case study is based on our completed project for CELEST (2024). Some information of this case is based on public information from RNDR‘s official project page for “CELEST”. Thank you!
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