El Padel trusts SNEP® lighting designed for sports facilities
In Kolmenkulma, Tampere, the balls are flying at both padel and badminton courts. Uniform lightning plays a key role during every game. Purso was involved in designing the lighting all the way from the construction phase of the El Padel playing courts.
Henri Mäkelä, CEO of El Padel, already had good experiences of Purso’s lighting solutions they designed for Autolähde Oy.
– Purso’s LED light lighting solution was always our number one choice because of our good experiences with their products and previous collaborations. Of course, the suitability and pricing of the lights was evaluated before placing the order. As both features were highly competitive at Purso, choosing the lighting was one of the easiest aspects of this project, says Mäkelä.
Space-suited light distribution
El Padel has eight professional padel courts and six badminton courts, as well as a shop, restaurant, and a VIP sauna. Lighting standards provide some guidelines for the required solutions in different sports, but El Padel and Purso also wanted to get player feedback for the design project.
– Input from the end user gives the best possible starting point for designing a lighting solution. El Padel is frequented by young, high-level players who certainly know the conditions under which they play best. For example, in padel, the lights must not be on the field. It is difficult to hit an arched ball flying high if the light hits your eye, says Tuomas Arha, Purso’s regional sales manager.
In Purso’s solution, the lighting fixtures are installed very high in the ceiling, so that glare is kept to a minimum. Uniform light throughout the court prevents the creation of shadows or overly bright spots.
– The lighting was accomplished with 2.8-meter long SNEP® Mode C luminaires with a wide light distribution. The dimmable luminaires can be controlled with a clock, motion sensors and pushbuttons. The luminaires feature stepless adjustment and they are highly energy efficient, producing up to 36,000 lumens of light with great efficiency, Arha says.
– Although challenges and delays were encountered in many other areas of construction, there was no need to worry about the delivery of functionality of the lights, Mäkelä adds.
Glowing user feedback
Purso’s SNEP® luminaires have the Finnish Key Flag symbol and are fully recyclable. An accurate carbon footprint can be calculated for each of them. The luminaires installed in El Padel have also been tested in sports facilities, meaning they have passed the standard durability test.
– The luminaire is tested by installing it to a location that corresponds with the final place of use and is hit with balls at a speed of 60 km/h from various angles. Safety is absolutely essential, and as a family business, we want to make sure the light fixture doesn’t wobble, break, or in the worst case, fall down to the court, Arha says.
In addition to safety and a low need for maintenance, the opinion of the end users is key. Most users have been very happy with the lighting at El Padel, and feedback is still actively being collected after the facilities were completed in November 2021.
– According to the competitive players, our lighting is at a professional level, and brighter and better than in many other venues. We have really managed to optimize the lighting and optics at El Padel, Arha says.
– The majority of user feedback has been very positive. Generally, padel courts feature two types of lighting available in the padel courts, either the lights are integrated on the fields or installed in the ceiling of the hall. Often the lights are a matter of preference, and one likes to play in a familiar environment. However, almost everyone who plays here thinks the current lighting is the best they have encountered. Personally, I naturally completely agree, Mäkelä thanks.
