FC Bayern Munich
kicked o the season with
play of light
Arena & Sports
Public lighting
Case study
Background
It is more than just a soccer stadium,
a lot more. The Allianz Arena is the
home of champions FC Bayern Munich,
it is one of the most famous venues in
the world, and they welcome
enthusiastically every year millions of
visitors and fans around the globe.
This is not least due to its fascinating
architecture. The building is surrounded
by the largest membrane shell in the
world and hardly any of the diamond-
shaped membrane pads has the same
shape.
The challenge
To illuminate this facade in a uniform
and visually attractive way, is a
challenge. Also for the operating budget
and the sustainability objectives of the
Allianz Arena. Was there already a
lighting system on the market that could
digitally produce and control dynamic
lighting eects under these conditions?
With low power consumption and low
maintenance?
FC Bayern Munich kicked o the last season in spectacular style: Philips, the global
leader in lighting, and the German soccer champions presented a new LED facade
lighting at the Allianz. The entire innovative Philips system can be controlled digitally
and is capable of reproducing 16 million colors. This makes Allianz Arena, the ‘Star of
the South’, Europe’s largest and Germany’s rst stadium to feature dynamic lighting
across its entire facade.
The project
The previous lighting was based on
analog technology with conventional
uorescent lamps. Philips replaced this
solution with a complete digital system
comprising digital LED lighting
connected to Philips ActiveSite
connected lighting system with cloud-
hosted software and services.
More than 300,000 LED lights – over
an impressive surface area of 26,000
square meters — make the stadium
facade’s inatable outer membrane
shine brilliantly. Compared to the
previous system, the new technology
saves more than 60 percent on
electricity and approximately 362 tons
of CO
2
per year.
“In addition to the facade, in
conjunction with Philips we are also
highlighting the bowl inside the Allianz
Arena,” explains Karl-Heinz
Rummenigge, CEO of FC Bayern
Munich. “The bowl lighting eects in
the roof inside the stadium above the
stands is a new feature and a taste of
what’s happening. This lighting will
accompany the action on the pitch in a
dynamic way, for example by creating
a Mexican wave or goal celebration
eects in red and white.”
“The new lighting will serve to intensify
the emotional experience in the Allianz
Arena before, during and after the
match. Fans and television viewers
will experience unique lighting eects,”
says Philips Lighting Managing Director
Roger Karner. “The system is fully
digital, featuring intelligent controls,
and it has been tailored specically to
the unique architecture of the Allianz
Arena. We have drawn on Philips’
knowhow from three continents to
develop this unique system.”
The new lighting from Philips conveys already at
rst sight outside the Allianz Arena- full of emotion
and dynamics of the game.”
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
CEO of FC Bayern Munich
Sports
Subtle color dynamics
On evenings when there are no
matches taking place the plan is to
create elegant and subtle color-
changing eects in the form of waves
and clouds as well as horizontal and
vertical sequences, always in the
FC Bayern Munich colors. The lighting
concepts have been developed by
world-renowned architects Herzog &
de Meuron. They emphasize the
unique nature of this luminous
installation that will enhance the urban
landscape. The movement and color
changes are extremely delicate and
subtle, and are only really noticeable
if you stop and look a little longer.
It is also possible to create lighting
eects for special events, for example
featuring iconic brands, dierent
colors, nuances and dynamics.
And from now on all it takes to start
them is the touch of a ngertip.
Complex supplementary installations
are now a thing of the past.
The spectrum of possible lighting
eects ranges from illumination of the
Arena in green to mark St. Patrick’s Day
to multicolored visualizations, such as
for the Audi Cup, to special concepts
for international league tournaments.
On days when there are home and
away matches, the facade will shine
with renewed brilliance in red or white.
Allianz
Arena
Munich
Germany
“The new Philips lighting enables us
to make a clear statement about the
place that the German soccer
champions call home, both for the
local fans and for international
competitions between stadiums and
clubs,” says Jürgen Muth, CEO Allianz
Arena Munich Stadium GmbH.
Tailor-made
lighting system
In October 2014 the go-ahead was
given for work to commence on site.
Mountaineers climbed the façade to
install over 6,500 compact ColorGraze
xtures – sometimes at vertiginous
heights of up to 25 meters. In total
more than 45 tons of material were
used, including more than
7.5 kilometers of the linear high-tech
xtures, several hundred data enablers
and over 5,000 meters of cable for the
digital control. The entire installation
involved not only electrical contractors
and engineers, but also lighting
designers as well as hardware and
software designers from Philips in the
USA. The team developed special
installation brackets and optics to
enable the xtures to be aligned
individually so that the light from the
LEDs would shine uniformly on the
inatable domed outer membrane,
which varies slightly in shape.
The new Philips lighting
enables us to make a clear
statement about the place
that the German soccer
champions call home, both
for the local fans and for
international competitions
between stadiums and clubs.”
Jurgen Muth
CEO Allianz Arena FC
Maintenance
costs reduction
equal to 53,000
matches
Energy savings of
60% and carbon
footprint reduction
of 362 tons a year
Enabling light
shows and
branding
ActiveSite instant
remote control of
color-scenes and
diagnostics
Professional services
for peace of mind
and Lifecycle
services to protect
your investment over
lifetime
Philips Lifecycle and
Professional Services
“We have signed a Lifecycle Services
Premium+ contract with Philips. With
the Premium+ package we guarantee
optimal performance of the lighting
installation with our business needs,
ensuring day-to-day eciency and
uptime. With the Premium+ service
package we are assured of expedited
response time, data analytics and
consultancy, system optimization and
a fully customized solution. Thanks to
the Lifecycle Services we can optimize
the performances and meet our
business objectives.
Philips, with partner Alexander
Weckmer, also provided Professional
Services such as project management,
auditing, system design and
commissioned the complete lighting
system. Also our Allianz sta was
trained.”
The benets:
In terms of sustainability and eciency,
the new Philips system represents a
technological revolution. The LEDs
used save more than 60% on electricity
and some 362 tons of CO
2
compared
with the previous technology based on
uorescent lamps. The maintenance
and operating costs are also lower: the
LEDs have an average lifetime of
80,000 operating hours, which
reduces the need for maintenance and
is equivalent to the duration of about
53,000 league matches. The system is
extremely robust, even under extreme
weather conditions with temperatures
as low as -50°C. In addition, the cloud-
based Philips ActiveSite platform
enables optimum operation. ActiveSite
delivers detailed reports in real time,
facilitates maintenance and simplies
content management. In this respect
too, the Allianz Arena is at the forefront
of technology.
© 2016 Koninklijke Philips N.V. All rights reserved. Philips reserves the right to make changes in
specications and/or to discontinue any product at any time without notice or obligation and
will not be liable for any consequences resulting from the use of this publication.
June 2016
www.philips.com/arenaexperience
