Bespoke lighting from a UK manufacturer

Client Case Study: The Queens Club

Background: our customer, an established London Wholesaler, approached us in summer 2007, asking for advice on court lighting at the Queens Club, London. Although already in receipt of a sample unit and lighting calculations from another lighting company, they wanted to consider an alternative.

 

The problem: players were experiencing excessive glare from the existing court lighting. Coupled with this, The Maintenance Manager was committed to making energy savings. The current installation was running for up to 15 hours every day, even when the courts were not in use. Presence detectors couldn’t operate the lighting and this was resulting in huge energy bills.

 

The brief: The Racquets Manager wanted to trial just one court with the new system and, if successful, roll it out across the club. We suggested a new approach, which was to look at a bespoke design that used a general-purpose louvre to control glare, behind a panel of 5 mm thick clear polycarbonate, which would provide maximum impact resistance. We suggested using high output 80 Watt T5 lamps that could be used with presence detectors. So whilst the individual light output would be less than the existing lighting, meaning that more units would have to be installed, the energy savings would be immense.

 

A sample was installed on a real tennis court, to positive feedback from the club. We also provided comparison examples of energy use so that the club could calculate how much they would save by installing the new system. We produced several lighting schemes, looking at different layouts, the aim being to deliver the best light output and uniformity.

 

What was the end result? In July 2008, we were called back to the club to advise on positioning the units and to confirm the small details. Shortly after, we received an order for the first court.

 

What was key to securing this prestigious project, was an ongoing dialogue, many site visits and the ability to design, make and deliver a completely bespoke solution that would have a positive impact on the players and a positive impact on the energy bills.

 

Game, set and match!