MEYDAN RACECOURSE A Day at the Races A horse racetrack with more than 3,000 ‘shuttered’ sports luminaires is an illuminated jewel in the Dubai desert BY WILLIAM WEATHERSBY 68 <strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong> | LD+A www.ies.org
MEYDAN RACECOURSE If you follow horse racing, you have, of course, heard of the Triple Crown’s Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes; perhaps you’ve visited London’s Kempton Park or other racetracks around the world. Now the must-see outpost for thoroughbred aficionados is destination Dubai. The spectacular Meydan City in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, adds to an already legendary landscape of inventive architecture, engineering and lighting design. “Meydan” in Arabic means “meeting place,” and indeed the racecourse is a venue where fast-paced thoroughbred racing meets inventive illumination. tially launched as a Jumeirah-managed property, but now the flagship for the Meydan chain) encompasses a 285-room, fivestar hotel that directly overlooks what is billed as the world’s most exclusive horse racing venue. The racecourse features an imposing trackside LED media screen (from Mitsubishi) measuring 100 meters long by 12 meters high. The luxury hotel, itself, has more than 1.6 kilometers of interior LEDs, plus a multitude of dramatic lighting effects. Designed by TAK Architects of Malaysia and Dubai, with interior and exterior lighting by CD+M Lighting Design Group of Atlanta and Dubai, the highend hospitality and sporting property is an keep 60,000 spectators entertained between races when they are not leaving the stands to place bets?” The solution was thoroughbred-level lighting of the racecourse and the entertainment area in the paddock. The mandate from the hotel and racecourse owners, Meydan City Corp., was to create theatrical lighting that evokes an almost American NFL Super Bowl halftime show ambiance. “It was meant to be very family-oriented, and to create visual interest during the downtime between races,” Johnson notes. The LED-powered media screen entertains the crowd whether or not icons such as Elton John, Santana and Sting are performing. The dream project of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE oasis of dramatic nightlife in the desert. “The project is multi-layered, with ex- OPEN AND SHUT CASE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler pressive interior, exterior, landscape and Just over 3,000 luminaires were used to of Dubai, the new evolving city complex horse racing facility lighting,” says prin- light the racecourse, all 1,500-W metal ha- will combine shopping, housing, business cipal lighting designer Ted Ferreira. “At lide and supplied by Musco. The fixtures parks and hospitality/sporting sites. “Mey- night, we wanted the hotel and racecourse were mounted in several locations: 889 dan is founded on the guiding principles of grandstand to appear as a jewel box dra- double-stacked luminaires line the top of partnership, community and sporting excel- matically seen from the visitors’ approach.” the ½-mile long grandstand; 176 are posi- lence,” says chairman of the board and CEO tioned on four different masts on top of the of Meydan, Saeed Humaid Al Tayer. “We DUBAI’S SUPER BOWL hotel; and 1,935 are mounted on 25-meter- have conceptualized and planned for an in- As racing only occurs in Dubai between tall poles (52 total) staggered around the terconnected cityscape where the worlds the winter months of November and March track. Another 52 luminaires (2,000-W in- of business, sport and cosmopolitan living and at night, because of the hot desert candescent) were installed at the finish line. merge and complement each other. climate, evening illumination was a criti- Each 1,500-W fixture is equipped with a “Dubai had enjoyed 14 years of an amaz- cal concern for the sporting venue. Sports motor-controlled hood that rotates to “black ing racing legacy with the venue Nad Al lighting raced to a new level at Meydan out” each luminaire. Just four switches Sheba,” he continues, “but we were also when CD+M designed a CIE83/169 criteria transition the entire track into complete acutely aware of the fact that with the system to support television broadcasts, darkness from 2,500 lux in less than three Photos courtesy of Meydan Hotel and Racecourse increasing popularity of racing, growing turnouts at races and the demands of the international racing connections, Dubai needed a new facility that could cope with the expectations of patrons and horsemen, providing them with a facility that justified the stature of the sport.” The Meydan Hotel and Racecourse (ini- special entertainment events and the horse races themselves. “Sports lighting is generally designed by staff engineers, not a lighting consultancy,” says CD+M associate principal Bill Johnson, who led the team that designed the racecourse. “There is no official gambling in Dubai, so the quandary was, how do you seconds, to dramatic effect. Three programmable switching levels allow six different light levels, all with identical uniformity. “Entertainment under 1,800 vertical lux in such an expansive space doesn’t work, with objects getting washed out,” Johnson says. “Thus, the specific mandate to turn the sports lighting off between races was born.” www.ies.org LD+A | <strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 69
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