Bourne Lawn Tennis Club is one of the largest tennis clubs in the area, with over 200 members and spacious facilities including 5 grass courts and three all-weather courts. Bourne Lawn Tennis Club offers a friendly, thriving club in the peaceful setting of Abbey Lawns in Bourne, Lincolnshire. Open to members of all ages and abilities for social play and competitive tennis, the club recently approached Ritelite for assistance with upgrading the current lighting system on the all-weather courts to LED.
The Requirements
The Ritelite projects team were challenged to provide a new LED lighting system that would significantly raise the LUX levels on the courts from current levels. The 15 year old lighting system in place was power hungry metal halide lighting that offered a very low colour rendition and quality of light to the courts. Tracking the ball when in play was proving difficult to the members of the club with concerns raised about the light levels further deteriorating during the coming winter.
Michael Speakman, Bourne Lawn Tennis Club’s Chairman, was passionate about finding a long-term, sustainable, energy-efficient solution that would vastly increase LUX levels on the courts as part of a joint re-surface and painting project to transform the current experience for members.
Before Photos
After a full site evaluation, light modelling and initial site testing, the Ritelite Projects team carefully specified multiple, highly efficient LED Sport lighting products from the Prolite Lamps range to recommend for installation at the site.
These luminaires combine highly efficient, high output LED’s with state-of-the-art asymmetric lensing to prevent both upward light spillage as well as glare on the courts. Light spillage / pollution onto surrounding areas was a concern that had been raised by local residents so the Prolite team addressed this in some detail with local council members to reassure them the result would be satisfactory.
In addition to specifying the new lighting solution for the courts, the Ritelite project team also helped the club through the local planning process to enable them to install lights on 1 of the 3 courts that were not currently lit. This was successfully granted and lighting on all 3 of the clubs all-weather courts was signed off to be lit to an LTA standard.
The Solution
The previous Metal Halide lighting system was replaced on the 2 existing courts and 6 new masts were installed on the one court that previously didn’t have any lighting.
Once the fittings and planning had been approved an installation plan was devised by the Ritelite Projects team to help minimise disruption to the club’s operational times. This plan included the critical setup process of the light heads, optimising light levels for the courts ongoing.
The final results met and exceeded expectations. The LUX on the PPA was improved by more than 4x the Metal Halide system and the high quality white light provided creates a much better play environment for players. The unique asymmetrical design has ensured that all the light is focused on the playing surface with very low light spill outside the courts.
The feedback from the club has been fantastic!
‘I would have no hesitation in recommending Ritelite. From the moment we first contacted them to the day the job was completed they have acted with total professionalism. We are delighted with the installation on all three of our hard courts and the lighting pattern and light produced from the new floodlights will make it seem as though you are playing tennis in daylight. The job was completed on time and within budget and they were quick to adapt when changes were required.’ – Michael Speakman, Chairman
After Photos
