Ghelamco Arena

KAA Gent football club had big ambitions – and a big stadium. Its brand new 20,000 capacity home was built in order to seat more spectators and take the club to the top of the Belgian league. How could light help make the new stadium a success without breaking the bank?

For a stadium of this size, getting the lighting right is vital. Signify was brought in to illuminate the entire stadium, and began by installing ArenaVision floodlights around the playing field. The high-quality sports field lighting produces clear visibility for players and spectators. Flicker-free performance ensures super-slow-motion cameras can record flawless footage.

The stadium façade was adorned with 500,000 flexible LEDs, making it possible to project animated messages about events occurring in the stadium. The new exterior lighting has transformed the façade into a unique advertising medium that will be seen by passers-by travelling through several traffic routes.

The new lighting system has achieved all goals. Philips, in collaboration with Belgian company Painting with Light, supplied and installed all the systems in time for the opening of the club. Signify will also perform all maintenance for the following 10 years. Fittingly for a football club, a little teamwork has resulted in a great victory for all parties involved.

The new façade lighting is wowing visitors with a palette of more than 16 million colors. These can be used to create endless combinations of lighting effects that have never been seen before, including ripples, strobes, smears and explosions.