Musco Lighting | S tadium FX

ow did the project at Wembley Stadium begin for Musco Lighting?

In fact, we initially discussed the potential for an LED upgrade of the stadium floodlights back in 2014 after we had won the contract for Twickenham, which was the first stadium in Europe to change to LED. The timing wasn’t right just yet for Wembley, but, by late 2017, they were ready to move the project forward and began the tender process. Following our successful bid, Musco was appointed to upgrade the Wembley floodlights to LED in early 2018.

Was there a particular brief from the venue in terms of what they wanted for the lighting system?

As one of the world’s most iconic and globally-recognised stadiums, it was critical that we delivered a solution that achieved the highest standards for sports broadcast lighting, while also aesthetically integrating into the stadium’s architectural features.

Wembley was preparing to host the final for EURO 2020, so upgrading the lights to comply with the most current requirements of UEFA and FIFA was critical, in addition to NFL, which was regularly hosted at the stadium. In addition, with the advanced control capability that LED offers, we were able to introduce a new level of entertainment to the stadium with colour-changing accent lighting and dynamic light show capability. These features have been utilised, not only for football matches, but also for touring concerts and other events that Wembley hosts year round.

Can you give us some insight into the lighting system design?

As mentioned earlier, the system was required to exceed the requirements of UEFA, FIFA, and the NFL. We also worked with the project team to design a more architecturallyattractive look to the mounting of the lights - changing to a linear design that followed the arch of the gantries and better integrated into the stadium’s overall design.

The colour-changing lighting was included as a replacement to a redundant bowl accent lighting system, which was no longer fit for purpose. With the installation of the Musco RGBW colour accent lights to illuminate the underside of the stadium roof, we added a dynamic effect that could be used for matchday or non-matchday to enhance the experience of the fans and interact with the community.

What technology is used for the floodlights, back-of-bowl and upper bowl lights – and why does it work so well for Wembley Stadium?

The field of play is illuminated with a total of 368 Musco TLC 1400 luminaires, with 38 Musco TLC 600 luminaires utilised for the seating bowl, while the back of bowl roof accent lighting is designed with 52 Musco TLC RGBW luminaires.

As far as why it works so well for

Wembley, it really comes down to the unique ability the Musco system has to control light and minimise glare. We see a sporting venue like Wembley as a theatre, and the focus should be on the pitch. Intense glare can negatively impact the broadcast, the spectator experience, and the players, thus taking away from that theatre look and feel… that was a key factor in the success of the Musco installation at Wembley.

What lighting control system is used and why?

When we started work on this, it became clear that, while Wembley knew what they wanted, they were open to suggestions as to the best way to achieve the control goals. We worked closely with the project team to design and then implement a fully diverse and redundant system for both day-to-day control and entertainment control.

The heart is a Stadium FX Apollo system, which controls a pair of Pharos LPC controllers and a pair of

Cueserver Pros, as well as integrating seamlessly with the Stadium BMS system. We also supplied a full Luminex Gigacore fibre network and a Stadium FX Guest Input Box to facilitate instant control of all elements by incoming productions.

Is the lighting control used for the iconic Wembley arch, too?

A year or so after commissioning, Wembley asked us to take over control of the orphaned Wembley Arch control. As it’s driven from a Pharos LPC, too, it was a straightforward task to add it into the Apollo system. What was also scoped was that it should also be available via the Guest Input Box.

What creative capabilities does the Musco Lighting system provide for the venue?

There are many scenes and effects programmed in at all times for each element of the lighting system that can be called on at any time, but the most used part is the guest input box, which has allowed many productions, from The FA to Ed Sheeran, to have complete creative control of the entire system.

How does the system improve the fan experience and atmosphere on game days?

Fan engagement and entertainment has been a key new growth area in the past few years. Wembley have been ahead of the curve with this system and we’ve been proud to be involved with many events there, helping event owners maximise the possibilities. From a simple lighting dimmed state for a minutes silence to the full system being utilised throughout concerts, it’s impossible not to notice the impact this system has in improving the atmosphere and experience.

How is the system used as part of concerts, shows and other events?

With the Guest Input Box, we provide an instant, safe, connection from the incoming show to the Wembley system. It allows them to merge their signal into the stadiums for control of these elements. The artist’s lighting director then ‘clones’ colour and effect information from their show to specific lights in the Wembley system. When the stage goes blue, so does the arch and back of bowl. When the stage flashes white, they can now have the entire stadium floodlights flash in sync! Also, the BMS integration of the system, while not as exciting as the entertainment side, is equally important to Wembley. They needed to keep an existing user interface and functionality, including their scheduling system, as so many staff would have needed retraining if we came in with something completely new. We worked with their BMS team, More Solutions, to provide a fully bi-directional network message system that not only met, but exceeded the brief. This was also expanded to include the Arch when that came online for us.

What has the feedback been like from Wembley Stadium since the installation of the lighting system?

Universally superb, with many discussions about what we can assist with elsewhere, and plans for future improvements and expansion.