Lighting: Full order books

The industry is well occupied with new buildings and retrofits in floodlighting, while overall lighting concepts also continue to expand. The integration into the show and media technology continues to progress.

Last year since the most recent coverage of projects in SPORTS VENUES 2021/22 the momentum of new constructions with their floodlight installations slowed down slightly because of known reasons. In any case there weren’t that many building sites for sports and entertainment venues and those that were up and running generally had delays. But there are far more reasons for floodlight projects than installations in new buildings and for large manufacturers sports venues are just a niche in a larger market that includes industrial facilities and other architectural objects such as airports. Also, the conversion wave to LED lighting is still happening in all sectors. And after about a decade within which this new standard has been established numerous conversions from old to new LED systems have happened.

In the heat of the first wave most developers basically knew which path they would take in terms of construction and production of their LED flood lamps – for example, there is a fundamental difference between lenses and reflector technology – but not all products were so well-engineered that they would keep the big promises linked to LED floodlights during permanent use. Some critical issues are the retention of a high lighting level with high efficiency and reliable operation over long periods of time. A significant heat build-up affects the material and counteracts the promise to have perpetually low-maintenance and efficient high-performance lighting with LED flood lamps. The challenge for design engineers is to work out the respective sweet spot for the spotlights.
Another critical point is the flare or dazzling and emissions that could turn into dealbreakers in residential areas due to strict ecological criteria. The latter aspect is less relevant for large stadium bowls in which light and sound basically remain under the roof and don’t get out and more relevant for communal sports grounds that can become a nuisance factor for adjoining housing developments and nature reserves and for racetracks where a tremendously high light quality can be a safety factor to a special degree.

The supervision of light emissions in the professional sector is crucial everywhere where TV-suitable light is implemented according to the criteria of professional leagues and associations. The demands for brightness are continually spiralling upwards – and at the same time the equability of lighting in more viewing directions than ever must be met. The measurement protocols for the expert checks that are part of every installation are now demanding documentation of the illumination of the pitch area plus of the related space reaching into the vertical, orthogonal measurements in various angles from several points. Because more TV cameras than ever are broadcasting the big events this multitude of perspectives with optimal illumination also of the peripheries of pitches must be given due regard. Further criteria that increase the challenging task of the illumination of sports events in its complexity are the growing demands for colour rendering.

However, the most important trend topics are currently the use of colour options for lighting as well as the merging of all light issues of an object into comprehensive overall concepts. In many cases both happens simultaneously. LED spotlights designed for this can effortlessly retrieve the entire colour range in RGBW mode. To make sure that coloured illumination turns into vivid, multi-variant production of architecture and event on the action surface, controlling and network technical inclusion are required – and consequently a system integration into the media technology of the house.

The large installations of the German developer LANZ have shown that floodlight with its specific, particularly high demands is not exempt from this and can also play a role in the show programme when entire stadiums and arenas are immersed in atmospheric glow or support the show programme in line with the rhythm of music recordings.

After an entire sequence of respective projects, it is now exciting to see whether this model will gain further acceptance. There are different technical approaches and solutions; what will prevail in the end will – like any system – have to prove itself regarding sustainability and profitability.

Stadiums and race tracks

For Musco Lighting, a US market leader, the biggest new installation of last year happened in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – on a racetrack as the company reports and with modules that also underline the show capability of lighting: “When the Saudi motor sport association decided to build a new road racetrack along the waterside promenade at the Jeddah Corniche it wanted to break records. The first race at the highspeed city course was supposed to be held at night – that meant a lighting system was required that would provide the necessary illumination level for TV transmissions, the evenness and glare stop demanded by the safety standards of international racing organisations and an unforgettable race night for the spectators. Because the timeframe for construction was just eight months this project was a race against the clock.

The motor sport association opted for the Total Light Control – TLC for LED™ system that distinguishes itself with a patented light control which prevents drivers, spectators or TV cameras from being blinded. The system’s more than 2200 spotlights were installed and cross-linked with completely concealed wiring in time for the first race in which Show-Light+® entertainment services spectacularly enhanced the event. Musco’s comprehensive warranty on parts and amount of work that covers all maintenance costs of the system until 2031 provides long-term technical and financial sustainability.”

Each manufacturer must find its own way in the sector of enhanced lighting concepts and open up the market strategically. Philips – also a market leader – with its broad spectrum around lighting and other technologies banked early on the model of becoming a lighting partner of large stadiums. Signify continues on this path. After the Allianz Arena in Munich and later the Cívitas-Metropolitano of Atlético Madrid set milestones for the level of lighting technology as showcases, a lighting partnership with the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig was the latest development in Europe. “The Red Bull Arena sets new standards in the Bundesliga as a ‘stadium of the future’ and it offers its supporters an unmatched fan experience with the new lighting”, says Signify.

The concept stage started at the beginning of 2020 with an ambitious schedule for the realisation of the first installations by September 2021 and completion by the end of 2022. “Besides innovative products the modern, IoT-supported light management system Interact is used”, explains Signify.

Among the most important subprojects are the architectural and the entertainment illumination including the façade, the roof underlighting and the lighting of the roof wing with dynamic, coloured LED lighting. Due to the control system equipped with Interact the Red Bull Arena can be immersed in the desired light appropriate for the respective situation – for example, when the typical red of the Bullen greets the fans from afar on home game evenings.

Visitors on the stands inside the stadium can enjoy a “totally new entertainment experience that lets the entire circle pulsate with a light show in red and white for every goal.” This atmosphere also transports the light to the lawn: There the pitch lighting offers the cameras optimal illumination according to international standards for flicker-free super slow motion thanks to Philips ArenaVision and also stages the game for the spectators at home.

The Dutch manufacturer AAA-LUX again had numerous top league projects in The Netherlands as well as some worldwide ones like the ballpark of the baseball team Leones de Caracas in Venezuela.

Baseball stadiums have again been again a field of GigaTera – in Asia, but also in the USA where the company from South Korea installed a new lighting system in the St. Louis Cardinals’ Busch Stadium. (STADIAWORLD, 15.08.2022)