Architecture
| Consultant: |
Lighting Innovations, Johannesburg |
| Location: |
Capetown, Pretoria a.o. |
| Country: |
South Africa |
| Year of construction: |
2010 |
| Photos: |
Colin Grenfell |
Lighting
In four of the largest South African World Cup stadiums and in six training arenas, high performance projectors from Siteco guarantee optimal viewing comfort for sportsmen and spectators.
Artificial light in modern football stadiums is an important factor, and with internationally major events is of vital importance, because football has become an event for light. Atmospheric lighting of stadiums supplements the functional illumination of the playing field. Not only must stadium architecture be impressively lit, spectators now networked worldwide expect a scenically dramatic lighting accompaniment that gives any match an unmistakable world championship flair.
The times in which hundreds of projectors were mounted on masts high above the stadium are coming to an end. In modern sports and event stadiums, projectors are now integrated into the tribune roofs and are thus an integral component of the architectural design. This is seen especially with the new Greenpoint stadium in Cape Town that at the same time is a multi-functional arena, and with 68,000 seats also one of the largest World Cup locations in South Africa. It was constructed in the immediate vicinity of the coast under the management of the German offices of Gerkan, Marg and Partners.
The building complex with a transparent appearance is equipped with a ring-formed playing field system comprising a total of 360 SiCompact R3 Maxi high performance projectors. The lighting system has been accommodated to the rear of the translucent canopy with a depth of approximately five metres. While luminaire distances consist of approximately 1.5 m throughout, the mounting heights oscillate between 40 m and 48 m as a result of the undulating roof form. Equipped with high lumen output HQI-TS 1000/2000 WDS short-arc lamps, the R3 Maxi projectors emit precise lumen packages that reach the playing field largely without stray light spill. The Greenpoint stadium is the only one of the ten World Cup stadiums with a floodlight system. The installation complies with the stringent regulations of Fifa Class V with illuminance levels of up to 2400 lux, and is therefore ideal for HDTV technology.
The Mbombela stadium in Nelspruit, planned by the South African offices of R&L Architects with a capacity of 44,000 is also equipped with R3 Maxi projectors. The installation consists of over 330 luminaires arranged in two rows below the translucent tribune roof, illuminating the playing field from a height of 32 m and 35 m.
The Loftus Versfeld stadium in Pretoria, one of the largest and oldest football arenas in the republic, has been completely renovated and now has a capacity of 52,000. The lighting was also renovated in its entirety: 274 SiCompact R3 Maxi luminaires were installed both by conventional methods to the four existing luminaire masts as well as along the front canopy edges of the two main tribunes. With the new lighting, illuminance was raised from 700 to 2000 lux.
The Free State stadium in Bloemfontein, expanded with a complete tribune level, now offers capacity for 48,000 spectators. As with Pretoria, old masts and also the canopy edges of both tribune roofs were equipped with SiCompact R3 Maxi projectors.
The impressive total of approximately 1900 projectors installed in South African stadiums and training locations once again testifies to the outstanding quality of the SiCopmpact R3 Maxi high performance projector, first installed at the Heini-Klopfer ski-jumping chute at Oberstdorf for the ski-jumping world championships in February 2008. Thanks to homogeneous wide-area illumination, outstanding colour rendition and optimal glare protection, the R3 Maxi offers maximum light comfort for both sportsmen and spectators.
Stadiums: Greenpoint stadium, Mbombela stadium, Loftus Versfeld, Free State stadium, Seisa Ramabodu stadium, Mogwase stadium, Southdowns stadium, Phillipi stadium, GWK Park, Ka-Nyamazane stadium
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