Anolis for Sports Park Illumination in Sweden

	Kungshalms Naridrottsplats. Photo: Harald Nilsson

Kungshamns is a picturesque coastal harbor town in the Sotenas Municipality in Sweden's Vasttra Gotaland province. The local city population of just over 3,000 more than doubles during the summer months with an influx of tourists who visit to enjoy the sailing and water sports, appreciate stunning coastline, and naturally beautiful surroundings.

The Sotenas Kommun (town council) issued a tender to design a complete new sports park in the city center offering a variety of playing and development areas for children and young people, from beginners to professionals.

Gothenburg-based creative landscape architects, Landskapasgruppen AB, received the assignment based on their framework proposal for the space. Innovative ideas and integral lighting scheme for the space which features Anolis luminaires was then also put forward.

The Kungshalms Naridrottsplats (local sports ground) is open to anyone wanting to practice a variety of sporting activities from skateboarding to football to basketball and is adjacent to a brand new sports training hall.

When it came to lighting the environment, Landskapasgruppen's head lighting designer Karin Janssen chose Anolis ArcSource 48 Integral MCs as the primary fixtures to illuminate the park at dusk and bring it to life after dark, ensuring that those using the space can continue their activities safely.

"We needed a high quality luminaire that would also help create a relaxed and inclusive ambience in the park," explained Janssen. "The idea was for it to be a place where everyone is welcome to come and play or practice. Naturally there were the safety considerations, and it was important for the lighting to look good when dimmed and necessary to prevent light spillage or pollution for the nearby residential developments."

They wanted a color changing fixture to create small pools of different hued light in the designated four lighting zones and they noted Anolis is renowned for its excellent smooth and refined color mixing. In addition to the whites, a good selection of blues and greens was required for the pre-programmed color schemes that shift subtly throughout the evening.

The idea of using these shades came from bioluminescence which is a common phenomenon in the ocean along Sweden's west coast. Organisms like plankton, fireflies, and angelfish can glow by releasing light-emitting molecules and an enzyme generally called the "luciferin" which reacts with oxygen and creates the light.

Janssen worked closely with her colleague and landscape-architect Rasmus Lagerstrom who designed the park, and they also consulted a number of lighting experts including the projects division of Bellalite, Anolis Swedish distributor, to determine what would be the best options.

Everyone pooled ideas and considered throw distances, required lux levels, color temperatures, and the robustness and reliability of the fixtures for a tough outdoor environment, particularly in the winter ... and the IP67 rated Anolis ArcSource 48MC Integrals ticked all the boxes as the best option.

The 16 fixtures are all rigged on 8m high poles positioned around the park and powered from local mains. The installation was completed by local electrical company Kungshalms El.

A Pharos system is used for control, with data transmitted wirelessly to the fixtures utilizing embedded LumenRadio receivers which talk to a transmitter located on the building. A repeater rigged on one of the lighting poles ensures a good signal throughout the area. All the setup and addressing of the fixtures was done wirelessly using RDM (Remote Device Management), a function of the fixtures which also monitors wireless signal strength to ensure there is a good covering across the area.

The lights switch on automatically as dusk falls and cycle through a series of pre-set looks and scenes as the evening progresses.

White "activity" settings are also pre-programmed, triggered by a series of motion sensors around the park, so anyone walking through will have their path automatically lit.

Janssen and Lagerstrom specified Bellalite's Johan Zachrisson as the programmer as part of their tender application due to his familiarity with the lights and control system, and the results are being appreciated by the many users for which the park has already become a valuable local asset.

In addition to sports training, it has become a community meeting place and a central location and hub for other events happening in and around the town and the locality.

Anolis is an architectural lighting division of ROBE lighting s. r. o.