La Bombonera, Argentina
Client
MRD Soluciones SA
Project location
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Project date
2019
THE CHALLENGE
During 2019 whilst preparing for the 2020 Copa Libertadores and the Copa America, the renowned Argentinian football club Boca Juniors needed to replace the floodlight system of its home pitch, the Estadio Alberto J. Armando. Thorn was tasked with supplying the floodlights and control system as part of a project team that also included its parent company, the Zumtobel Group.
The new installation had to fulfil the lighting requirements of the South American Football Confederation CONMEBOL, including those for HDTV broadcasts and super slow-motion replays. Also, the club was interested in a solution that would enhance the overall experience of a visit to its legendary stadium “La Bombonera” (“The Chocolate Box”), as it is known to fans around the world. Given its unique shape, the lighting was quite the challenge, as Mariano R. Desirello, lighting specialist at MRD Soluciones SA and consultant for the Boca Juniors club, explains:
“As a Boca Juniors consultant, I can say that the lighting renovation at La Bombonera stadium was a great challenge, especially because of its asymmetric architecture.”
Back of the net for Altis
Altis 3-brick floodlights from Thorn were selected to fulfil the CONMEBOL lighting requirements, which specify an LED lighting solution with average horizontal illuminance > 2000 lux and vertical > 1300 lux. The 248 installed units easily achieve the needed lighting levels. Featuring an intelligent design with tiltable modules, the powerful 5700K LED luminaires provide high-quality light in a variety of optical configurations. Their colour rendering (CRI > 80) and flicker-free operation is well-suited for HDTV broadcasting.
248 remotely installed LED gearboxes were used to fully integrate the floodlights with an RDM-based DMX lighting control system, enabling flexible control of the entire lighting installation with a simple tablet. In addition to supporting numerous static and dynamic lighting effects in real time, the system can also be customised and pre-programmed for various lighting scenarios and events.
“Thanks to the Altis floodlight from Thorn, we were able to achieve our goal. As you can see here, it was the right solution."
Mariano Desirello, Lighting Specialist at MRD Solutions
THE WINNING RESULT
La Bombonera once again beams with a brightness worthy of its stature among football fans. The new installation more than fulfils the lighting standards required by CONMEBOL – and very efficiently so, delivering double the pitch lighting output of the previous solution with 30% less energy. What’s more, it provides the club with a tremendous amount of lighting flexibility to dramatically stage its home matches and other events. As Mariano R. Desirello underscores, the Altis floodlight proved an excellent choice for the task:
“Thanks to the Altis floodlight from Thorn, we were able to achieve our goal. As you can see here, it was the right solution.”