Oakwood Tennis Club
Project location: Dartford
Project Background Brief:
Oakwood Tennis Club had three courts which were floodlight using a fairly unconventional column setup, with 4no 12m columns adjacent to the doubles sideline and “No Man’s Land” area of the outer courts.
Each column contained 4no 1kW metal halide floodlights, mounted on a bespoke cross-arm to allow coverage across all three courts. With regular lamp and control gear failures, difficulty in obtaining replacements and rapidly increasing costs; Oakwood Tennis Club turned to PPG Projects to deliver an LED Upgrade to ensure compliance to LTA Recommended LED Floodlighting Standards, reduce running costs and eliminate the aforementioned costly maintenance.
Particular Challenges:
The club backs onto a residential area with neighbours back gardens being directly next to the courts. Due to COVID-19 restrictions affecting the club’s operation for a large proportion of 2020, except during the summer months when floodlighting was not needed to be used, the neighbours had become accustomed to the lack of artificial lighting, but also due to poorly preforming lighting once we had completed our works in accordance with the lighting design, in places the results were up to 7x brighter, naturally causing concerns and complaints from neighbours. As this feedback was received, we worked with the club to create a balance between the quality of the LED Tennis Floodlighting and the satisfaction of the neighbours. By adjusting the angles and aiming of the LED Tennis floodlights, we were able to deliver a solution which complied with LTA recommended LED Tennis Lighting Standards but also minimised glare, light spill and light pollution.
Special Project Features:
The existing floodlighting system was switched from inside of a welfare facility which due to COVID restrictions was temporarily closed, meaning access would not be possible unless committee members were present. Following the upgrade to LED Lighting, the club moved this switching to the outside of the building and introduced a WiFi controlled programmable time switch so that members could control the new LED Tennis Floodlighting System from their mobile phone using an application
