The ‘Total Ninja’ journey
Being the preferred electrical consultant at Black River Park, in Observatory, we were fortunate to be involved with the first Total Ninja inflatable obstacle course. The first of its kind in South Africa. This would lead to a long-term relationship and involvement in the next few Total Ninja installations throughout South Africa.
What is a ‘Total Ninja’? If you haven’t been lucky enough to experience it or have kids that absolutely must go see what it’s about, then we suggest you go have a look. It is an inflatable course with ninja-like obstacles that provides entertainment and physical activity for the entire family. Various levels of difficulty also mean any person, young or old, can join in the fun.
It’s amazing to be part of the fast-developing inflatable park, which is slowly expanding throughout South Africa. With the first inflatable park being erected in Cape Town, we have now assisted our client with more stores in areas such as Stoneridge (JHB), Northgate (JHB), and the most recent one at Kolonnade (PTA).
We (QDP Lighting and Electrical Design) were responsible for the following services:
- Electrical Power & Lighting
- ICT Services
- Audio & Visual
- CCTV
For the Northgate project we were appointed for electrical and electronic designs and an external consulting team did the site supervision and monitoring. We did adhoc site visits to carry out inspections with the team from Johannesburg and resolve any issues during the construction phase.
These inflatable courses comprise of a mixture of light fittings with red and white LED strip lights to give the building the cool hip feeling all while visually bringing in the colour palate The Ninja. LED Hi-bay light fittings are introduced to provide higher lighting levels for kids to safely navigate throughout the inflatable and obstacle courses.
With the constant load-shedding issues the pumps of the inflatables, 60% of the lights and all electronic equipment are backed-up with a by a UPS with 10mins battery backup which allows sufficient time for the mall’s generator to startup and take over the load. This ensures that the inflatable course doesn’t deflate whilst kids are still enjoying themselves.
These inflatable parks are fast becoming popular all over the world, with the latest installation in Dubai. Unfortunately, we are not part of that installation.
(Would be nice to travel to Dubai instead of Durban on someone else’s dime!)
– Maurice Awkes
