What better way to celebrate the highly anticipated 3D TRON: Legacy, than by building an electric blue TRON-esc ice hotel, aptly named the Legacy of the River.

A set of British designers, Ben Rousseau and Ian Douglas–Jones created this suite not only to celebrate the release of the Disney movie, but also to help launch a new line of illuminated furniture and interior products due out in 2011.

With temperatures well bellow -22c, you can imagine just how difficult it was to get the snow in the right conditions to work with. The suite consists of over 60 square metres of 100mm thick ice, which is almost six tonnes and 160 linear metres of electroluminescent wire.

The blue lighting scheme is achieved by cutting grooves into the ice, inserting energy efficient EL wire and then icing over the wire to keep it in place. EL wire, or electroluminescent wire, is an energy efficient lighting technology used for a wide variety of applications. An EL wire is composed of a copper wire coated in a phosphor that glows when an alternating current is applied to it. The energy efficient technology allows just a few hundred feet of EL wire to be driven by AA batteries for several hours.

The suite was finally finished yesterday and both Douglas-Jones and Rousseau are heading back to a warmer climate, but not before having a little snowmobile fun.

The Legacy of the River will be one of 19 unique ICE suites for the Hotels 20 year anniversary.

Damn that place looks cold!

Damn that place looks cold