LEDs Light up Historic Real Tennis Court at Lord’s

Need to light an unusual space? LED lighting is perfectly suited to technically challenging projects as it is incredibly versatile.

LED specialist Earlsmann is an expert in designing and manufacturing lighting equipment to suit specialist sports facilities. We were recently approached by MCC, owners of Lord’s cricket ground, to quote for replacement lighting at the club’s Real Tennis court facilities.

Before: The old fluorescent lighting was distracting and created areas of darkness and glare	After: The Real Tennis court is now brightly and clearly lit, providing high-quality facilities for fast, exciting play

Seeking bespoke LED solutions for sports facilities?

Lord’s may be known as the ‘home of cricket’ but the ground also houses a Real Tennis court. These courts, of which there are only 43 worldwide, are enclosed by walls on all four sides, three of which have sloping roofs, known as ‘penthouses’. This unusual shape presents various challenges for lighting placement – the playing floor is offset due to the penthouses, potentially creating dark corners that make it difficult to achieve uniformity.

Earlsmann – expertise in designing LED lighting for unusual spaces

Having worked on several Real Tennis courts, Earlsmann is fast becoming a specialist in providing tennis court lighting solutions where this niche but prestigious sport is played. MCC contacted Earlsmann to provide a proposal for replacing the existing lighting at its Real Tennis court. The old lights, which ran parallel with the length of the court, and the reflections they created, were visually distracting and made it difficult to follow a ball.

Relux modelling provides confidence in LED lighting design

Earlsmann drew on its previous experience to develop a detailed Relux model – while recognising that no two Real Tennis courts are the same (e.g. different height beams, varying light spacing). The design achieved for Lord’s through this process achieves 700 lux with a 0.76 uniformity, meaning the corners of the court are brightly lit, enabling players to accurately hit difficult shots by the back walls.

LEDs provide clear, bright lighting that supports high performance in sport

As requested by MCC, 4000K lights were used – providing a ‘warm’ feel to the lighting. Earlsmann supplied its traditional high-bay LED units with reflectors to minimise glare. The result is a much clearer, brighter and less cluttered atmosphere that improves the real tennis playing experience. Sensors were installed to maintain light levels within a specific target, while ensuring that lighting is never running at 100% – increasing the life of the LED units. With instant-start functionality no warm-up period is needed so lighting can be left off until required, providing additional energy savings.

Drawing on shared experience to minimise installation cost and disruption

This complex project involved removing four complete lines of inefficient fluorescent lighting and all associated trunking.  Two towers were required due to the length of the trunking, and the facilities were completely rewired to comply with current standards. Earlsmann worked closely with lighting installer InterLED, drawing on shared experience of similar projects.

Earlsmann – your experienced partner in creating total LED lighting solutions

Earlsmann has many years’ experience in the LED marketplace, providing a comprehensive range of lighting solutions to suit every interior and exterior application. In-house designers use Relux modelling to create innovative solutions tailored to client requirements.

To find out more about Earlsmann’s commercial lighting products please call us on 08456 434 740 or email sales@earlsmann.co.uk.

You might also want to take a look at our LED lighting services for Leisure Centres and our Sports Hall Lighting services.