Gymnasium lighting: preparing properly for the new sports season

At the end of August, the gymnasium is empty, the floor markings have just been repainted and the mobile scaffold can still move around freely. It is the only time of year when the lighting can be checked without moving a club session or interrupting a physical education lesson.

A serious check takes half a day and determines what follows: one-off replacement, partial rework or complete renovation. The criteria below are listed in the order in which they actually arise on site.

What the European sports lighting standard expects of a gymnasium

Two texts overlap. The EN 12193 standard covers the lighting of sports facilities and works by discipline and by level of play. The EN 12464-1 standard, which covers indoor workplaces, sets for sports halls and gymnasiums an average illuminance of 300 lux, UGR limited to 22 and a colour rendering index Ra of at least 80.

Three quantities structure the sizing. Maintained average illuminance, in lux, describes the level reached at the end of the maintenance period and not on the day of commissioning. Uniformity U0, the ratio between minimum and average illuminance, describes how even the spread of light is. Finally, glare control protects the player following a high trajectory.

These values are checked on the playing area, not at the geometric centre of the hall. A light meter survey on a regular grid is enough to detect a decline in the installation, whereas a renovation project requires a photometric study with false-colour rendering to validate the layout before ordering.

Levels of play: training, regional competition, broadcasting

EN 12193 classifies facilities into three levels. Class III covers training, school sport and recreational play. Class II targets regional competition and high-level training. Class I corresponds to national and international competition with spectators.

The exact values depend on the discipline listed in the annex to the standard. For a multi-sports hall, the benchmarks commonly used are as follows.

| Use of the hall | EN 12193 class | Maintained average illuminance | Uniformity U0 |

| --- | --- | --- | --- |

| Training, school sport, recreation | Class III | 200 lux | 0.5 |

| Regional competition, high-level training | Class II | 300 lux | 0.6 |

| National competition with spectators | Class I | 750 lux | 0.7 |

Television broadcasting changes the question. The sizing criterion becomes vertical illuminance towards the cameras and no longer horizontal illuminance on the floor. A hall intended for broadcasting is treated as a separate project, with the broadcaster's specifications attached.

The classic trap is to aim for class I without needing it. Installed power, the cost of electrical rework and discomfort in everyday use all increase. Choosing the actual level of the sessions, with a margin for occasional use, costs less than permanent oversizing.

Ceiling height and suitable type of luminaire

The clear height determines the choice of luminaire family and beam angle. It is measured at the lowest point of the structure, not at the ridge, and the space taken by basketball hoops, nets and dividing curtains must be deducted from it.

| Clear height | Luminaire family | Preferred beam |

| --- | --- | --- |

| Up to 6 metres | Linear batten or high-power sealed luminaire | Wide beam |

| From 6 to 9 metres | High-power high bay or linear pendant | Medium beam |

| Above 9 metres | High-power high bay or floodlight | Narrow to medium beam |

High bay luminaires for high ceilings suit tall volumes and are mounted on a hook, a rod or a bracket. Linear pendants spread the flux over a larger apparent surface and limit areas of high luminance in the field of vision, which helps in disciplines where players look up.

One point should be checked with a tape measure before any order: the position of the luminaires in relation to ball trajectories and mobile equipment. A luminaire aligned with the axis of a hoop or a net always ends up being hit.

Resistance to ball impacts and fixing of luminaires

Ball resistance is verified by a type test, most often according to the German specification DIN 18032-3 used as the market reference. A luminaire declared ball-resistant has undergone repeated shots on its diffuser and body, under conditions described in the test report.

The IK rating completes this information on resistance to mechanical impacts: IK08 corresponds to an impact energy of 5 joules, IK10 to 20 joules. In a hall where the ball reaches the ceiling, the IK rating alone is not enough to conclude, the ball test remains the relevant criterion.

Three installation precautions come up systematically:

• A removable protective grille in front of the diffuser, when the luminaire has no ball test.
• A safety sling or cable attached to the structure, independent of the main fixing.
• A check of the tightness of clamps and rods after a few weeks of operation.

Glare for players and visual comfort in the stands

In volleyball, badminton and basketball, players look above the horizontal several times a minute. A bare luminaire placed in that line creates an afterimage that hinders reception. The UGR limit of 22 set for sports halls is a comfort floor, not a design target.

Three levers act on this point: mounting height, the luminaire optic and its orientation. An opal diffuser lowers apparent luminance. An optic with a controlled beam directs the flux towards the playing area and leaves the ceiling dark, which also reduces the veil of light perceived by the players.

The stands are treated separately. Spectators look down and towards the playing area, they must not have a floodlight in their line of sight. Retractable seating requires an additional check: no luminaire or unit must be within the deployment volume.

Emergency lighting and evacuation of the public

A gymnasium that receives the public falls under the rules for buildings open to the public and the obligations attached to them. Escape lighting signals exits and changes of direction. Anti-panic lighting maintains general visibility in the occupied volumes.

The French safety regulations require a minimum luminous flux of 5 lumens per square metre for anti-panic lighting and an autonomy of one hour for self-contained units. The EN 1838 standard sets a minimum illuminance of 1 lux on the centre line of escape routes.

Two further checks apply in a gymnasium. Emergency units must be protected from balls in the same way as the general lighting. The safety register must record the periodic tests: switching to emergency mode every month, checking autonomy every six months. Emergency units and control devices are chosen at the same time as the general lighting, so that the cherry picker only goes up once.

Checklist before sessions resume

1. Measure illuminance on a grid of points covering the playing area, with the hall clean and the luminaires stabilised after about thirty minutes of operation.
2. Note luminaires that are off, flickering or visibly yellowed compared with their neighbours.
3. Check the condition of the diffusers: cracks, impacts, dust, missing grilles.
4. Check the fixings, the safety slings and the tightness of the suspensions.
5. Test each emergency unit and record the result in the register.
6. Check the operation of the controls, the division into zones and the time delays.
7. Check the means of access for maintenance: cherry picker, scaffold, anchor points.
8. Photograph the defects and group them in a single request for a quotation.

Repeated from one year to the next, this list shows how the installation is drifting and triggers the decision to renovate at the right time rather than in a rush, a week before a tournament.

Luminaires designed for sports volumes are grouped in the sports halls category.