The next issue of Stadia will feature an in-depth feature on the new Wanda Metropolitano stadium, home to La Liga soccer club Atlético Madrid in Spain.
In the first of a series of interviews with companies working on the project, Stadia speaks to Philips Lighting’s Jorge Jusdado about the challenges posed by the lighting system at the stadium, and how these were overcome.
What was the assignment given to Philips by Wanda Metropolitano? Did it evolve during the project?
In the initial stage, they wanted functional conventional lighting, something which was commonly used in the rest of the stadia in Spain at that time. After talking with them, explaining the possibilities with lighting – specifically what LED light can add to the fan experience and events – they became more open to exploring the possibilities. As technology has been accelerating rapidly, in the end they realized they had two options: either become the first 100% LED stadium or the last one with conventional lighting.
Can you elaborate on the key challenges?
The main challenge was, of course, relating to the timing, to get the stadium ready for the 2017/2018 La Liga soccer season – so not only the lighting system but the entire stadium. Philips Lighting was required to fit all the lighting needs and specifications into the project charter and align deliveries, installation time and testing. It required a very high level of alignment of workflows.
It had to be fully coordinated with other constructive phases such as walls, speakers, cabling, grass, roof installation, and so on. As an example, we had to develop a custom floodlight for the project due to weight restrictions in the roof and we had to bring that to market in an accelerated process.
Can you talk us through the details of the installation?
Wanda Metropolitano now has a fully connected and integrated LED lighting system including lighting for the stadium façade, pitch, hospitality, and exterior parking areas.
The spectacular roof structure above the pitch is equipped with dynamic Philips Color Kinetics architectural lighting, creating dazzling lightshows for visitors.
The lighting on the façade can be synchronized with the lighting in the parking area – for example, during games the façade lighting can be more dominant, becoming a real landmark in the city.
On the pitch, the Philips ArenaExperience lighting system uses 336 Philips ArenaVision LED floodlights, and delivers the greatest experiences for both fans sitting in the stadium or watching the match from home.
The new lighting guarantees maximum quality for television transmission and meets the latest La Liga, UEFA and FIFA broadcast standards. The pitch lighting can also be switched on and off instantaneously or synchronized with other light shows on the façade or bowl. Depending on the needs of the event taking place (such as a soccer match or music concert) light shows can be configured to the exact needs of the event, thereby maximizing the impact.
The new stadium will be able to adapt quickly and easily to meet the needs of different types of events. This will result in additional revenue and will help Atlético Madrid to increase the average visitor stay at these events.
The club’s premium Neptuno and VIP hospitality areas are also equipped with the latest and most efficient high-quality LED lighting, which is expected to deliver energy savings of more than 60% compared to conventional technologies.
Next to the enhanced fan experience, the stadium also enjoys high level of efficiency in terms of both energy and operational maintenance as well as reduced environmental footprint. Compared to traditional lighting, a 23% reduction in terms of energy and CO₂ emissions was achieved.
How will the relationship between Philips and the club continue to develop?
Philips has become Atletico de Madrid’s lighting partner for the next three seasons. Becoming a partner for us is being an active player in the club when light enters into the game; it can be to improve the experience with the pitch lighting, supporting them to make better shows, improving their communication with the language of light and how the stadium changes its color based on what is going on around the Atletico de Madrid ecosystem or just expanding our collaboration with better lighting outside the stadium – offices, training courts or inside the Atletico de Madrid fan zones.
November 29, 2017
Written by Matt Ross
