Great mood in the City Square

When it comes to lighting sport stadiums, it’s not only the athletes that need to be put in the limelight – for the spectators, too, good lighting is indispensable. WE-EF has provided functional and atmospheric illumination for the main access way and the fans’ area of the Manchester City Stadium.

Visitors from Liverpool are always a very special highlight for the players and fans of the Manchester City Football Club (MCFC). This year, the club’s arch-rivals arrived for MCFC’s fi rst home match of the season and were received in the stands by the home team’s lively fan community. The spectators quickly got in the right mood at the cheery opening of two new fan areas: the City Square in front of the stadium and the Family Stand inside. On the Joe Mercer Way, the main access to the stadium, the new City Square welcomes visitors with bars, restaurants, a fans’ shop and huge video screens. There, the fans can meet up, enjoy good entertainment while waiting for the kick-off and – if need be – seek protection from Manchester’s changeable weather. BDP Building Design Partnership was the creator of this impressive world of experience for visitors to the stadium. As an unmissable branding of the location, the whole fl oor is covered in Manchester City blue.

In addition, among the equipment providing brilliant lighting in MCFC’s “blue world” are WE-EF FLA740 area fl oodlights, which fl ank the access way to the stadium. These asymmetric ‚forward throw‘, 150 W metal halide lamps are mounted on existing poles at a height of eight metres. For the lighting of the stadium forecourt, BDP lighting planner Karen Ihlau had four additional 12-metre poles erected, on which she arranged WE-EF FLC240 projectors with 70 W metal halide lamps in the form of a spiral. “This solution leaves the visual axes to the video screens free, and the high poles perfectly harmonise with the girder construction of the stadium’s roof”, Ihlau explained. When asked why she chose lighting products from WE-EF, she said: “We only had three months to complete this project, including our planning efforts and the selection of matching suppliers. WE-EF was able to master this challenge both technically and in an absolutely timely manner.“

(By the way, the outcome of the match against Liverpool was a brilliant 3-0 for MCFC. This success heralded the start of an equally successful season for the club. The enthusiasm and loyalty of Manchester’s highly-valued fans certainly had a big share in this result.)