Lighting the temple of football : Allianz Arena

Much excitement was caused in Australia during the Football World Championship in Germany 2006. The Aussie "Socceroos" did very well, all matches were broadcast live on SBS Television, and a lot of fans visited Germany and its spectacular football stadiums.

The championship opening took place in Munich´s new "temple of football" named the Allianz Arena. A soccer stadium like a huge dinghy, that shines in different powerful colours. The knowledge of two companies based in the Southeast of Germany made this unconventional solution possible.

Siteco, Traunreut, and the company Covertex, Obing. Covertex provided the rhombic air cushions which build the mantle of the stadium. 2800 of those air cushions cover the 60.000 sq.m. surface of mantle and roof.

The membrane structure was necessary for the illumination of the mantle of the stadium in white (international matches) alternatively in red (FC Bayern) and blue (TSV 1860 München), the colours of the respective soccer clubs. In order to achieve the desired lighting effects, each cushion has four illuminaires. Each illuminaire is 3.50 meters long and contains six fluorescent tubes (58W) and three ballasts. Red, blue and transparent cover discs enable the colour change. A special construction of asymmetrical parabolic mirrors provide a uniform illumination of the cushions. 4.250 special illuminaires of Siteco are mounted in 1.056 membrane cushions.

Nine huge illumaires shaped like balloons provide the main entrance area in front of the stadium with light. The balloons consist of flameresistant fibre cloth foil, pressurised continiously by a fan integrated in the mast. Four lamps (1000 Watt) are positioned on arms within the balloon; special lighting engineering limits the luminance of the mantle to a quantity of less than 3.000 cd/sqm.

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