Wimbledon Centre Court by Populous and ME Engineers

London

Photo © AELTC / Joe Toth

Architects & Firms

When the U.K.’s premier tennis venue recently replaced the High-Intensity Discharge (HID) lamps at Centre Court with advanced LED sports lighting, the owner, All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), tasked ME Engineers to revise the controls, which had been installed in 2009 along with the HIDs and the stadium’s retractable roof. This was to assure compatibility between the new fixtures and controls and to take advantage of the latest LED and control technologies. To do this, the lighting designers upgraded the software for the existing Quantum system by Lutron, which had been providing complete management for all of the lighting elements and such energy-management components as motorized shades. The updated system, which includes a DMX controller that communicates with every fixture individually, can be accessed via PC or remote keypads with an improved graphical interface. It is now possible to more finely tune the lighting during a game, eliminating potential glare (distracting to both players and spectators) and providing the appropriate illumination for television cameras. Custom programs consist of a championship scene as well as additional adjustable settings for the remainder of the year in areas of the building shown in tours of the facility. This system also integrates with the operable roof controls and is programmed to automatically turn sports and seating lights on and off depending on whether the roof is open or closed, although a manual override is available. Outside of the championship, a time clock and remote keypads control the house lighting for the tours and for staff. The manufacturer maintains that this lighting retrofit has been so successful that AELTC is currently considering a similar solution for its Court No. 1.

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Joann Gonchar, FAIA, LEED AP, is deputy editor at Architectural Record. She joined RECORD in 2006, after working for eight years at its sister publication, Engineering News-Record. Before starting her career as a journalist, Joann worked for several architecture firms and spent three years in Kobe, Japan, with the firm Team Zoo, Atelier Iruka. She earned a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University. She is licensed to practice architecture in New York State.