LED Lighting Solution for a Ice Sports Hall

LED Lighting for the Farmsen Eisland Ice Rink in Hamburg – Efficient and Durable

There are plenty of fans of ice sports in the Hanseatic city, and when the Crocodiles Hamburg play in Farmsen Eisland, they easily fill the stands. With almost 2,000 spectator seats, the ice rink is currently the largest of its kind in Hamburg. The new LED lighting from NORKA ensures excellent visibility, offers flexible control and saves a fortune in operating costs thanks to reduced energy consumption.

With almost 2,000 spectator seats, the ice rink is currently the largest of its kind in Hamburg.

Constructed in 1978, it is a purpose-built, austere, reinforced concrete building, with more than four decades of intensive use having left their mark. However, the ice rink in Hamburg’s Farmsen district still plays a key role for ice sports in the Hanseatic city. Offering space for 1,980 spectators, it is the official home of the Crocodiles Hamburg. During the season from October to March, not only professional athletes but also recreational skaters of all ages like to use the 1,800-square-metre ice rink – especially since a completely revamped lighting system now ensures perfect visibility.

A modern lighting concept

The old floodlight system with its 400-watt high-pressure lamps and total of around 30,000-watt connected load had had its day; during league matches in particular, players and spectators simply found the lighting of the ice surface too dim. Measurements showed maximum illumination levels of 500 lux – far too little for today’s requirements. This is where the NORKA light experts stepped in to develop a state-of-the-art lighting concept for the hall operating company, the municipal Bäderland Hamburg GmbH. Using LED technology, the design provides significantly better light while reducing energy consumption. A lighting control system also makes it easier to use and increases efficiency through lighting scenes that are appropriate for the use at hand.

For optimal illumination uniformity, the reflector tubes are slightly swivelled outwards on both sides.

The luminaires span the ice surface at a height of 5.5 metres at six rows of lights. 

Rows of lights with enormous output

The basis is provided by 86 twin-lamp ERFURT LED HO (high output) type luminaires. They now span the ice surface at a height of 5.5 metres as six rows of light, following the grid of the roof construction. In contrast to the old lighting and the emergency lighting that continues to be used, the new luminaires are not mounted directly on the tension rods of the roof construction, but on a separate mounting rail suspended with steel wires. Each luminaire delivers an enormous output of 26,200 lumen in a neutral white colour temperature of 4,000 Kelvin. This means that they can easily replace conventional HIT high-bay luminaires, but are far more energy-efficient. For optimum illumination uniformity, the narrow-beam reflector tubes are slightly swivelled outwards on both sides.

Adapted to ice sports 

The special requirements of ice sports are taken into account in the details, such as the covers made of fracture-proof PC Tropal^®, which can definitely withstand a stray puck. Special fixings, which act as anti-theft devices in other applications, provide additional fall protection for these luminaires. The electronic drivers feature DALI interfaces and are flicker-free so that even photo or HD video recordings can be made in the hall without any interference. They are the prerequisite for using the NORKA XARA^® lighting control system, which future-proofs the ice rink in this respect too.

The luminaires have covers made out of PC Tropal^® in order to prevent unwanted damage and fractures that might happen in an indoor ice rink. 

Different light scenarios are needed in a widely and variedly used ice sports hall, such as league matches - no problem for the installed light control system. 

Differentiated control scenarios

The separately addressable DALI drivers for the two reflectors of each luminaire enable a highly differentiated approach when forming luminaire groups and metering the illumination levels on the area in use. For example, the lighting setting for league matches once again highlights the two goals from the uniformly high illumination level of the pitch. On the other hand, the illumination for training, recreational use or ice maintenance can be dimmed to save energy at the touch of a finger – and suitable lighting scenes are also available for occasional use of the hall without ice during the off-season, for example, for exhibitions or events. 

The system is operated from several locations. However, staff at the outdoor and indoor ticket counters can only call up certain lighting scenes, while advanced functions are available in the control room. Scenes and luminaire groups were programmed by the NORKA technicians during commissioning according to the requirements of the operators. The result impressed everyone involved: The ice rink has never looked so attractive as it now does in the new light – at a fraction of the previous energy consumption and with reduced maintenance costs, because the time-consuming lamp changes are no longer necessary.

The luminaires can be controlled from several spots, like from this control panel.