May 2011 - Illuminating Engineering Society

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 | May 2011 69