The Intu Light House Experience

Having a child on the autism spectrum means I am very aware of sensory stimulation and how this is important for our development. Charlie for example, is quite often seeking visual sensory input but is oversensitive to loud noises and touch/texture. It can be a bit of a minefield trying to navigate our way through a bright and noisy world, never knowing what may tip the very delicate sensory scales. despite this, we are always on the lookout for things that may appeal to Charlie and when I heard about the Intu Light House experience, I figured it was most definitely worth a look. Our local Intu shopping centre is located in Derby. We visited the centre on a Friday morning during quiet hour which is currently between 9 and 10am.

Created by artist Liz West along with colour expert June McLeod, the Intu Light House experience is a pop up installation coming to a shopping centre near you between now and September 2020. Featuring three walk in “light houses’, each designed to evoke different emotions and brighten the mood.

The Calm House

Here you can take a seat and be enveloped by a sea of soft blue. The Calm House encourages us to take a breath and a moment. Forget about everything else that’s going on around you as you soak up the tranquil tones.

The Happy House

Who wouldn’t feel happy walking in to a giant rainbow? It’s kind of impossible not to smile or feel cheerier as you step in to this little tunnel. The lighting is still soft and therefore not overbearing, but the brightness of the colours certainly does lift your mood. Don’t take my word for it though; look at Charlie’s little happy face.

Energise House

This one was our favourite…… Using neon and energy boosting colours along with mirrors, the energise house is designed to uplift and invigorate. Visually, this one was the most exciting. Seeing the light bouncing in all directions, creating patterns and shapes, it was a little mesmerising. Charlie wanted to spend the most time in this house, checking out his little reflection all lit up and from lots of different perspectives.

I definitely think that the Intu Light House Experience is an interesting and pleasant one. Irrespective of whether or not you have a child with additional needs or sensory processing disorder, I believe it is something that all children would enjoy. My main word of advice, the pop up houses aren’t that big and they do not actually take up much space in the shopping centre. We also visited during quiet hour in an attempt to avoid over crowding but there still were quite a lot of people walking through the installation. This didn’t seem to bother Charlie, but if noise and close proximity to others are a problem for your child then I would advise to visit as early as possible. Also, you won’t need to factor in a huge amount of time. If you’re on a mission to entertain the little ones, you will most certainly need something else on the agenda too.

The Intu Light House Experience is completely free and you if you’d like to feast your own eyes upon it then you can find your local Intu Light House Experience information here. You can also check out other visitor’s snaps on Instagram by searching for the hashtag #colourmymood.

If you do happen to visit the light houses, on purpose or by accident; we’d love to hear what you think of them too. Let us know in the comment section.

As always, thanks for being here.

Beth Anne xoxo