TFA continues its focus on sports facilities with a look at the crucial role that lighting has to play at indoor tennis centres. Ridi’s lighting technology proves a winner at Warwick.
The indoor tennis centre at The Warwick University is the first leisure centre in the UK to receive an ‘excellent’ BREEAM rating. Constructed to minimise impact on the environment, but also to meet the exacting standards of the Lawn Tennis Association, the centre features natural ventilation for environmental efficiency and the ABR-Sport luminaire from Ridi for high performance, robust lighting.
Part-funded by the Lawn Tennis Association and Sport England West Midlands, the centre provides four indoor courts for use by students, staff, county tennis players, as well as the general public. Located on the University’s Westwood Campus, the centre is the first of its kind in Coventry and Warwickshire to offer access to the public without having to take up a membership. A reception area, a spectator gallery, offices and changing facilities complement the excellent court facilities. Built at a cost of £2.5m, the building was designed by architect Berman Guedes Stretton, with the electrical design carried out by Gary Price in the University’s estates office.
“We’ve used a lot of Ridi luminaires around the university campus so I had no hesitation in choosing the ABR-Sport for the indoor tennis centre,” he says. “The sleek look of the luminaire fits in comfortably with the interior of the centre and the specification and performance is perfectly suited to the requirements of indoor tennis.”
The ABR-Sport is fitted with a specially-manufactured, white steel reinforced, crossblade louvre that complies with DIN 18032 Part3 – a German sports hall lighting standard for which there is no UK equivalent. This standard includes full ball impact testing to destruction, making it the perfect solution for indoor racket sports and ball games. Positioned to achieve optimum light levels over the courts, the luminaires are installed in suspended and cambered runs between the courts using Ridi’s Tras purpose-made trunking system.
Manufactured at Ridi’s headquarters in Germany, the ABR-Sport range is manufactured from steel and has a high-grade scratchproof white paint finish. Kits are available for a dedicated pre-wired trunking system that can be cambered to suit particular sport applications. All variations are supplied complete with integral high-frequency control gear with the option of a three-hour integral emergency facility.
